The Northeast Passage, from the Vikings to Nordenskiold

Helsinki, Finland: Universty of Helsinki, John Nurminen Foundation, 1992. This is from the rear panel of the book: "The Northeast passage, the sea route from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, has captured men's imaginations throughout the ages. It was believd that the route through Siberian waters was a short cut to the riches of China, though the sailing conditions were in fact insuperably difficult. Seafarers put their lives at stake when they embarked for the icy Arctic Ocean in their little sailing vessels, either for abundant catches or in hope of discovering new lands. The Arctic regions were still but little know in the mid-19th century. The task of increasing knowledge entailed hardship and suffering such as we cannot easily imagine in this era of icebreakers, airplanes and satellites. The history of arctic explorationis a fascinating tale of man's struggle to expand his environment . It is both geographical history and the history of seafaring and methods of sailing. This book gathers together our knowledge of seafaring and charting in northern seas from early days to the end of the 19th century. In addition too richly illustrated articles.by experts, a rare selection of maps of the same periods has been assembled showing the development of the picture of the Northeast passage given by maps. The Northeast passage book is a diverse package of information, in which the bulk of the mapping information is taken from A.E. Nordenskiold's world famous collection in the Helsinki University Library. In 1878-80 the Finnish born Nordenskiold was the first exp[lorer to sail through the Northeast Passage, and he enriched our knowledge of Arctic conditions in many other ways. The book is an act of homage to his life work." Well illustrated with maps, engravings and photographs.. 286 pages, 10 X 13.5 inches. Very good book in a very good dustwrapper.. First Edition.