Frozen Ocean: Search for the Northwest Passage
About the Exhibit
An exhibition of materials from the Toronto Public Library's Special Collections. Books, maps and prints dating from 1578 to 1907 document 300 years of Arctic exploration, from Sir Martin Frobisher's discovery of Baffin Island in 1576 to the first navigation of the Northwest Passage by Roald Amundsen in 1903-5.
Early voyages to the Arctic were as hazardous as voyages to the moon, and captured the popular imagination as strongly as space travel does today. The explorers displayed great courage and independence, but were often ill prepared for Arctic conditions, and the hardships and suffering they faced are difficult to imagine. The books show the role of the Inuit in assisting the foreign led expeditions, and the gradual acceptance by the explorers of Inuit techniques of travel and survival. Contemporary maps show the lasting achievement of the expeditions: the mapping of the Canadian arctic.
Some of the key items in the exhibition:
- A 1578 edition of Frobisher's voyages to Baffin Island.
- The first map to show Hudson Bay, based on Henry Hudson's log book, (1611), a gift of George Weston Ltd.
- Sir Alexander Mackenzie's map of his 1789 voyage down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean.
- Four engravings by artist and explorer Sir George Back, 1836.
- The first separately published biography of an Inuit, Eenoolooapik, 1841.
- Eight large coloured prints by S.G. Cresswell, illustrating the first transit of the Northwest Passage, 1854.
- The first published account by an Inuit, Hans Hendrik, hunter and interpreter for several expeditions, 1853 to 1876.
Exhibition Items:
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John Ross. Narrative of a second voyage in search of a North-West Passage. Appendix. London, 1835.
Because of their extended stay on the Boothia Peninsula, members of the Ross expedition became well acquainted with the Inuit of the area. The appendix volume includes individual biographies and pictures of 24 local men and women, demonstrating the changing attitude of the explorers to the Inuit.
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Samuel Gurney Cresswell.
A series of eight sketches in colour of the voyage of H.M.S. Investigator (Captain M'Clure) during the discovery of the North West Passage... London, 1854.
Cresswell was an officer on H.M.S. Investigator under Captain McClure. When the crew of the Investigator was found by the search party from the Resolute, Cresswell led the first sledge party 160 miles to the Resolute carrying the six gravely ill crew members. His series of drawings illustrates the historic venture.
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Gerard Mercator, 1512-1594. Septentrionalium terrarum descriptio. Second state. French edition of 1613.
This is the first printed map of the North Pole, originally published in 1595. It reflects the belief that the continents were surrounded by water, which helped to perpetuate the idea of a northwest passage into the 19th century. A blend of mythology and fact, this map incorporates the discoveries of Frobisher (1776-78) and Davis (1585-1587).
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Edward Francis Finden.
Pictures from Back's Narrative of the Arctic land expedition, London, 1836. Engraved by E. Finden from drawings by George Back.
"Esquimaux woman and man of the Thleweechodezeth (Back River) July 28th, 1834."
George Back, an officer in the Royal Navy, accompanied Franklin on both of his overland expeditions in the 1820s, and led two expeditions to the Arctic in the 1830s. In his land expedition of 1833-1835, he explored the Thlew-ee-choh, or Great Fish River (now the Back River), and the seacoast around it. He was an accomplished artist, whose sketchbooks, preserved at the National Archives, and the Scott Polar Research Institute, provide an important record of Arctic exploration.