Description

The explorer, soldier and geophysicist Sir Edward Sabine (1788-1883) served as astronomer on John Ross's 1818 expedition in search of the North-West Passage. His return to the Arctic, under William Parry in 1819-20, compounded a keen interest in geomagnetism and his publications earned him the Copley Medal of the Royal Society (whose presidency he would later hold). His experience and expertise made him a natural editor, therefore, of this Arctic narrative, translated into English from German by his wife, Elizabeth Juliana Leeves (1807-79), and published in 1840. It is the account by Ferdinand von Wrangell (1797-1870), a Russian explorer of Baltic German ancestry, regarding his expedition to survey Siberia's north-eastern coastline. Compiled from the notes of the scientists on board, this work offers a valuable and wide-ranging insight into an inaccessible and little-known portion of the globe.