Sherard Osborn

The North-West Passage had thwarted the attempts of many expeditions by the mid nineteenth century, but none were so famous as the disappearance of Sir John Franklin and his crew. After two years with no word, a £20,000 reward was offered to anyone who could find the expedition, leading to many rescue missions. One such attempt was the search mission of 1850–1 under Horatio Thomas Austin, which Naval officer Sherard Osborn (1822–75) took part in. In this 1852 work, Osborn gives a vivid account of the hardships they endured on his expedition, which succeeded in determining that Franklin had not been lost in Baffin Bay. An incredible chronicle of death-defying feats in the Arctic, “Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal” is highly recommended for those with an interest in the famous Franklin expedition and historical exploration in general. Contents include: “Stray Leaves from an Arctic Journal”, “Departure”, “Plan of Search”, “The Atlantic—Greenland”, “Whale-Fish Islands”, “The Esquimaux”, “An Arctic Night”, “Godhaab”, “Herr Agar”, “Leave Disco”, “The Ships”, “The Screws”, “Uppernavik”, “A Check”, “Towing the Ships”, etc. Read & Co. History is republishing this classic memoir now in a brand new edition complete with an introductory biography by John Knox Laughton.

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