THE SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN BEGAN WITH MEMORY

Hall, Charles Francis (1821–1871)

Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition: His Voyage to Repulse Bay, Sledge Journeys to the Straits of Fury and Hecla and to King William's Land, and Residence Among the Eskimos During the Years 1864–69.

Washington: Government Printing Office, 1879.

ONE OF THE CORNERSTONE WORKS OF FRANKLIN LITERATURE, HALL'S NARRATIVE OWES ITS ENDURING IMPORTANCE NOT TO THE MILES TRAVELED, BUT TO THE TESTIMONY PRESERVED.
Published from Hall's journals and edited under the direction of J. E. Nourse following the explorer's death, this monumental narrative records the Second Arctic Expedition of 1864–1869. 

More than an account of exploration, it preserves the observations, surveys, maps, and Inuit testimony that fundamentally reshaped nineteenth-century understanding of Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. More than a century later, it remains one of the essential documentary sources for Franklin studies and the history of Arctic exploration.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: First Edition. Quarto; 10.25 inches; xlix, 644 pages. Publisher's original green cloth, decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt. Illustrated throughout with tissue-guarded steel-engraved portraits, wood engravings, heliotypes, and folding survey maps. Complete with the large linen-backed folding Map of the North Polar Regions preserved in the publisher's rear pocket. Includes bibliographical references and index.

CONDITION: Very Good. The bindings are tight and square. Text is clean with light, even age-toning. Moderate shelf handling wear. Wear is present along the lower edge of the cloth, with a tiny opening at the lower rear corner and modest wear at the head of the spine. The large linen-backed folding Map of the North Polar Regions remains present in the publisher's rear pocket; a few fold intersections show light wear, but the map remains remarkably well preserved and highly presentable.

ENDURING SIGNIFICANCE:  Gathering the Last Testimony.
Unlike many Arctic explorers of his generation, Hall understood that the people who knew the Arctic best were the Inuit. Living among them between 1864 and 1869, he learned their language, adopted their methods of travel, and carefully recorded oral traditions concerning the fate of Sir John Franklin's lost expedition. Many of these accounts were preserved here for the first time and became indispensable sources for later Franklin scholarship.

Mapping the Unknown.
Hall's work extended far beyond exploration. His expeditions through Repulse Bay, the Strait of Fury and Hecla, and King William's Land combined careful surveying with geographical observation, preserving routes, landmarks, and environmental conditions that expanded contemporary knowledge of the Canadian Arctic. The result is both a narrative of travel and a lasting record of a landscape still only partially known to Western explorers.

Seeing the Arctic.
The volume presents four distinct visual programs that together create one of the most comprehensive illustrated records of nineteenth-century Arctic exploration. Finely executed tissue-guarded steel-engraved portraits are complemented by hundreds of wood engravings, heliotypes, and documentary illustrations integrated throughout the narrative. Folding survey maps clarify Hall's routes and observations, while the impressive linen-backed Map of the North Polar Regions extends the work beyond illustration into a comprehensive cartographic reference.

Building the Franklin Record.
Hall's observations—and particularly the Inuit testimony preserved in these pages—became indispensable to subsequent investigations of the Franklin expedition. Later explorers, including Frederick Schwatka, relied upon information first gathered during Hall's years among the Inuit. Today, Narrative of the Second Arctic Expedition remains one of the foundational documentary sources for Franklin studies, Arctic exploration, and Inuit cultural history.

Circumpolar Reference.
Preserved in the publisher's rear pocket, the large linen-backed folding Map of the North Polar Regions synthesizes nineteenth-century geographical knowledge while tracing the routes of the principal Arctic expeditions. More than a cartographic reference, it served as a working document of exploration, placing Hall's achievements within the broader history of the search for the Northwest Passage and Sir John Franklin. It remains one of the defining features of this monumental publication.

BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES: Arctic Bibliography 6486; Howgego, Encyclopedia of Exploration to 1800, H5; Ricks, Annotated Bibliography of Polar Exploration, p. 163.

SUBJECTS: Sir John Franklin Expedition, Charles Francis Hall, Inuit Oral History, King William Island, Repulse Bay, Strait of Fury and Hecla, Northwest Passage, Arctic Cartography, Polar Exploration, Inuit Ethnography, Government Printing Office, Nineteenth-Century Exploration, Arctic Exploration, Exploration & Discovery, Polar History, Travel Narrative, Government Publications, Nineteenth-Century Americana

Item #22179

Price: $595.00