John Franklin

Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819-20-21-22, Volume I (Dodo Press) John Franklin

Sir John Franklin, FRGS (1786-1847) was a British Royal Navy officer and Arctic explorer who mapped almost two thirds of the northern coastline of North America. He first travelled to the Arctic in 1818 because of a command from David Buchan and became fascinated by it. Franklin was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land in 1836, but was removed from office in 1843. Franklin also served as governor of Tasmania for several years. In his last expedition, he disappeared while attempting to chart and navigate a section of the Northwest Passage in the Canadian Arctic. The entire crew perished from starvation, hypothermia, tuberculosis and exposure and the expedition's icebound ships were abandoned in desperation. His works include: Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1819-20-21-22 (1823), Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the Years 1825 to 1827 (1828), A Narrative of Some Passages in the History of Van Diemen's Land (1845) and Thirty Years in the Arctic Regions (1859).