NorthWest Passage

December 21, 2008 8:19 PM

Ice:A Victorian Romance, is an exhibition of fifty-five rare books and journals, with lovely illustrations.

Online exhibition of rare books and journals commemorating the British "infatuation with the Arctic," which began in 1818 "with the Admiralty trying to find an outlet for naval officers and seamen who had been idled by the end of the Napoleonic wars." from the growing collection found at the Linda Hall Library.

posted by hortense (8 comments total)

Nice find, the illustrations are indeed lovely and evocative. I have bookmarked this and will explore it more fully in July or August.
posted by longsleeves at 9:41 PM on December 21, 2008

Arctic discovery can be daunting because there is so much to read. An excellent 1-volume survey is The Arctic Grail (1988) - each of the chapters narrates and summarizes a major expedition between the period 1818 and 1909. The book keeps going in and out of print (currently out) but first edition hard covers can be had for cheap used.
posted by stbalbach at 9:52 PM on December 21, 2008

Hey, best of the Web! Thanks.
posted by RussHy at 5:06 AM on December 22, 2008

This is excellent. Thank you.
posted by grabbingsand at 5:37 AM on December 22, 2008

Admiral Flick, his tongue stuck to the fore-mast on a dare, from George Lyon, A Brief Narrative, 1825. (This is frigerific.Thanks!)
posted by steef at 5:57 AM on December 22, 2008

i thought this was going to be about cocaine. /frowny face
posted by camdan at 8:48 AM on December 22, 2008

I wish these exhibits had indexes of illustrations like other online exhibits do.
posted by joelf at 12:58 PM on December 22, 2008

This is me, swooning, swooning, swooning my ass clean off.

I live for this kind of thing. Seriously. The Linda Hall Library is my new spiritual home, and I've never even been there. Thank you, Hortense.
posted by palmcorder_yajna at 7:07 PM on December 22, 2008