British Arctic whaling logbooks and journals: a provisional listing

• Published in: Polar Record
• Main Authors: Brown, Sidney, Credland, Arthur, Savours, Ann, Stonehouse, Bernard
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2008
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Ecology; Geography, Planning and Development; Arctic; Polar Record; Sea ice
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0032247408007432; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0032247408007432

ABSTRACT This paper lists accounts of whaling voyages to the Arctic from British ports, dating from the early 17th to early 20th centuries, that are available as logbooks, journals or publications for study in British, Canadian or United States public institutions. Included are all original whaling logbooks and journals located by the authors, mainly but not exclusively from previous listings, plus early publications by whaling masters, mates, surgeons and others in the trade containing details of particular voyages, and later accounts based on edited versions of holograph manuscripts. Records of whaling voyages are of intrinsic historical and sociological value, and many include data on weather and sea ice conditions that are of particular relevance to current studies of climatic variation.