Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - July - 2008 Issue
North (and South) to the Poles from Aquila Books
The Worst Journey in the World truly was the worst journey in the world.
Item 5 is A Personal Narrative of the Discovery of the North-West Passage... This book was written by Alexander Armstrong, surgeon on board HMS Investigator during the expedition headed by Robert M'Clure (or McClure). M'Clure headed one of the many expeditions to find the missing Sir John Franklin, and while he didn't find Franklin, he did find a Northwest Passage, at least in a manner of speaking. M'Clure, who entered the Arctic Sea from the Pacific side, spotted what many consider to be the connecting passageway to the Atlantic. However, M'Clure's ship was trapped in the ice and had to be abandoned. The crew was forced to hike across the ice of M'Clure Strait to two other ships, which in turn had to be abandoned to the ice. Eventually, they all hiked to another boat that was able to bring them home to England. Considering that their passageway was impassible, some people instead give credit for the discovery of the Northwest Passage to Roald Amundsen, who completed the journey from one ocean to the other, albeit after a few winters frozen in place. However, recent global warming has melted much of the permanent ice in this area and M'Clure's passageway may yet become navigable to shipping. Offered is a first edition of Armstrong's book from 1857. $4,000.
Aquila Books may be reached at 403-282-5832 or Aquila@Aquilabooks.com. The wesbite is www.aquilabooks.com.
