Journey to the Polar Sea 1819-1822

Exploration, Starvation, and Survival in the Quest for the Northwest Passage

In 1819 Lieutenant John Franklin was selected to command the Royal Navy's first overland expedition in the Canadian wilderness. Their mission was to seek the Northwest Passage by charting the northern coast eastwards from the Coppermine River while documenting the geography of Northern Canada, from flora and fauna to magnetic variations to meteorology to the Aurora Borealis. Assisting the expedition with information, advice, and supplies was the Hudson's Bay Company.

What began with promise soon became a harrowing struggle to survive. Miscalculations by the leadership combined with missing supplies to reduce the expedition to starvation, murder, and even cannibalism. Eleven men died, and Franklin became forever known as "the man who ate his boots."

Based on the 1823 folio, this new deluxe edition contains 4 maps and 28 restored engravings, 11 of which are in colour. It also includes detailed scientific appendices by Dr. John Richardson, Lieutenant Robert Hood, and Joseph Sabine. It is a remarkable look at the land and people of early 19th century Northern Canada.