Polar Books Catalogue
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Sections : Antarctic; Arctic; Miscellaneous; Journal of the Manchester Geographical Society; Maps; Miscellaneous; Mountaineering; General Polar; Other travel; Whaling;
Reference 2420 (1488) Category Arctic; Author Loomis, Chauncey C. Title WEIRD AND TRAGIC SHORES; The Story of Charles Francis Hall, Explorer Publishing Information New York: Alfred A. Knopf,1971. 0394451317 Description 1st Edition: xiv, 367pages, xii index, illustrated, 16 b/w photographs, 2 maps. Cream cloth covers with gilt titling to spine in pictorial unclipped dustjacket. Some brown spotting to top of covers otherwise contents clean. The story of Charles Francis Hall, a 19th century Cincinnati businessman who threw up his career as a printer and publisher, left behind his wife and family, and embarked on an extraordinary expedition to the Arctic without any experience or specialised knowledge. In all he made three sorties, beginning with an under-financed search for the lost seamen of the British Franklin expedition and ending in a disastrous attempt to reach the North Pole. This final expedition was backed by the Grant Administration and ended in tragedy. Hall himself died during the attempt, possibly poisoned. In 1968 his body was exhumed 97 years after its burial in the Arctic, and the author was present at the autopsy. Price £20.00 Keywords eskimo, arctic, S1-Arc ISBN Add this to your basket