OBSERVATIONS OF THE INTERNATIONAL POLAR EXPEDITIONS, 1882-83 FORT RAE

Trubner & Co, 1886. Cloth. Good. 1st Edition; xiv, 326pp, tables, 32plates. Meteorological and Magnetical Observations, made at Fort Rae, on Great Slave lake, during the 12 months extending from september 1, 1882 to August 31, 1883. Brown cloth cover, gilt titles to spine. Ex Libri, Signal Office, remnants of bookplates on fep, library stamp to title page, no other markings. Covers tatty, parts of spine label missing, hinges splitting, text block age toned but clean and tight. The Expeditions of the First International Polar Year 1882-1883. The brainchild of Lt. Karl Weyprecht of the Austro-Hungarian Navy, the first International Polar Year (1882–83) represented a remarkable early example of international scientific cooperation in the polar regions. A total of 12 countries established 14 stations, 12 in a circumpolar ring in the Arctic and 2 in the SubAntarctic. The United States established stations at Point Barrow, Alaska, and Lady Franklin Bay, Ellesmere Island, and Great Britain (with Canadian assistance) dispatched a party to Fort Rae, on Great Slave Lake. The German stations were at Kingua Fiord, Baffin Island, and at Royal Bay, South Georgia, while the Russian stations were at Malyye Karmakuly, Novaya Zemlya, and at Sagastyr’ in the Lena Delta. The Dutch scientists were bound for Dikson at the mouth of the Yenisey, and the Austro-Hungarians were on Jan Mayen. The Danish station was at Godthåb (Nuuk), Greenland; the Swedish station, at Kapp Thordsen, Svalbard; the Norwegian station, at Bossekop, North Norway; the Finnish station, at Sodankylä, Finland; and the French station, on Isla Hoste, near Cape Horn. Each station carried out a standard, synchronized programme of observations for at least one year, the major focus being on meteorology and earth magnetism. Supplementary programmes included studies ranging from ornithology to soil temperatures to ethnography. The entire programme was coordinated by an International Polar Commission, chaired by Professor H. Wild in St. Petersburg. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilogram. Category: Arctic & Antarctic; Antarctic; Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 2644. .