Description: THE PENNY MAGAZINE Nov. 30 - Dec. 31, 1832 report on early Arctic exploration This is a paper which is over 190 years old! It is printed in a small format, measuring 7.5 by 11 in size, and is 8 pages long. The issue came from a bound volume and has some typical minor disbinding marks at the spine. It also has a few spots of age toning, but is otherwise in very good condition. This particular paper is a Monthly Supplement issue to the regularly weekly editions of the periodical, and its final three pages are devoted to an index of The Penny Magazine for the entire year. The main article in this issue is three pages long, beginning on its second page, with the title, ARCTIC LAND EXPEDITION. An editors note explains: The following interesting Article is the substance of a Paper read before the Royal Geographical Society, on 26th Nov. 1832, by Captain Back, R.N. Captain Backs report begins: The public sympathy having become deeply interested in the fate of Captain Ross and his gallant companions, the object of the following paper is to lay before the Society a sketch of the plan of the expedition which has been projected for the purpose of ascertaining their fate, and enabling, if found, to regain their native land. Captain Back then recounts the departure of the Rosss ship Victory from England in 1829, to complete the discovery of the Northwest Passage. Ross had been due back in the Autumn of 1832, but was now overdue, and no word had been heard from the expedition for a long time, which was now presumed lost. Yet Back expresses a conviction that there still remains a chance that Ross and his crew may be rescued: But although the steam-ship may have foundered, we are not thence to conclude that the crew likewise perished. . . . Captain Ross had many resources in the event of such an accident. . . and we know by numerous narratives that even the most dreary climes afford the means of preserving life for several years. . . . we are warranted in supposing, that though Captain Rosss vessel may be lost or disabled, he and his crew may be still in existence. If the Victory has been forced ashore, like the Fury, by the pressure of the ice . . . . It is, therefore, in Regents Inlet, that the search for him is most likely to be successful. He goes on to outline other possibilities, that Ross may be able to head south to safety in the Great Slave Lake, or be aided by the Eskimos of Canada. (Had the Victory even been seen by the Esquimaux in 1830, there has been no opportunity as yet of learning the fact.) Captain Back concludes his paper on the rescue operation to the Polar Seas by noting that even if it is unsuccessful in saving Ross and his men, the expedition will have a value of its own: While even if no such happy fortune should attend our researches, the geographical knowledge that must be obtained, and the scientific information resulting from a course leading nearly over one of the magnetic poles, will, it is to be hoped, show that the enterprise has not, even in this case, been undertaken altogether in vain. The article is accompanied by an engraving titled: Chart, showing the proposed track in search of Captain Ross. (In all, Capt. George Back's expedition was a journey of 7,500 miles, with 1,200 miles of it covering previously uncharted territory, tracing the Back River to the Frozen Ocean. During it, among the tribes he reported many details on, were the Cree, Chippewas and Coppermine Indians.) ************************************** Background on this publication: The Penny Magazine was a weekly 8-page paper put out by Londons Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge. Throughout the 1830s, an American edition was very popular in the United States, only to dwindle into extinction during the following decade. The paper did not cover the current news of the day, and carried no advertising. Instead, the Penny Magazine provided excellent essays on a wide array of subjects, such as architecture, science, geography and natural history. The paper was compact in size, and every issue was illustrated with several nice woodcut engravings. 48 _gsrx_vers_1680 (GS 9.8.3 (1680))
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Location: Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
End Time: 2024-12-22T00:05:49.000Z
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