#the northwest passage

[thiefbird]

With the tradition of adding verses to folk songs in mind...

Betrayed by their country

Eating rotten food of lead

Franklins men left frozen ships

Took to the land instead

They laid for years thereafter

Till slowly each was named

One more final frozen English shame

[amundsenxcook]

how gorgeous are these covers from amundsens reports and his autobiography….

[clove-pinks]

Happy Eighteen-Forties Friday! Since today my blog is focused on the anniversary of the 1845 Franklin Expedition leaving England, here are a few Franklin resources to enjoy:

The Mariner's Mirror podcast from the Society for Nautical Research: a new episode focused on the search for the Northwest Passage

Arctonauts: an underappreciated treasure trove of digitised primary sources for the Franklin Expedition and other polar explorers. Includes Franklin Expedition muster books and officers' service records!

More primary sources (and new interpretative artwork) for James Fitzjames, by the inimitable @jamesfitzjamesdotcom.

[clandestinegardenias]

lol look at this article i just got in a listserv email I'm subscribed to for work

[sharkthinker]

he has that sadness in his eyes you only see in eastern european gay porn and/or captains of doomed polar expeditions

[fieriframes]

[Diane, 11:30am, February 24th. Entering the town of Twin Peaks. Five miles south of the Canadian border. Twelve miles west of the state line. Never seen so many trees in my life.]

[killyourrdarlingss]

Got to go to the Vancouver maritime museum and see their exhibit on the northwest passage !!!!!

First post since there's a picture limit but I'll be sharing more :)

[valtsv]

wearing my terror hoodie to do my sickly little shuffle down the road to the corner store to pick up some chicken soup and cold medicine. method acting.

[xenoanamorph]

John Shaw Torrington🩵 An attempt at a facial reconstruction.. I did this in 2020 and for some reason was very hesitant/shy(??) about posting it. To be fair, not much “reconstruction” was necessary since he was in remarkable shape at the time of his exhumation (and I assume he still looks fabulous thanks to that good ol’ permafrost treatment🧊).

Now some thoughts… because I’ve never articulated this online before..💭

I’ve had a fixation on him since I was 14 (I’m 29 now) and have attempted many times over the years to draw him in a more…well, alive state..

and I’ll just say it straight up; I think he has a beautiful, ethereal face. I’ve always thought that, even when I was a kid. If he looks that way in death, I can only imagine what that beauty was like when he was among the living. I tried to capture that in this drawing..

Anyway.. I could ramble on…

This, I think, is the most presentable drawing out of all the attempts I’ve done in the 15 years I’ve ‘known’ him— though it certainly won’t be the last. 🩵

I’m planning on doing similar portraits of Hartnell and Braine… I expect Braine will be difficult because he was not in good shape compared to the other Beechey boys..

** I’m overwhelmed by the positive responses this piece got! Tysm everyone!🥲🙏 It really makes me so happy to see JT get so much love— and I’m sure it warms his heart as well 🩵

[ofhedgehogsandpumpkins]

Gimme your best Northwest Passage memes, fuck it up like it's 1845.

[astralwhat]

shirt pre-order ends soon! you can get ALL WELL here and MAKE HISTORY here* through Print Social. they're £19 each (+shipping), and a portion of proceeds will be donated to the PCRF.

*new pre-order version of Make History will not have the faded vintage look of the original version, but the remaining stock of that is still available in my etsy shop

[jeyneofpoole]

when a man embarks on a quest for the northwest passage he decides between finding the passage or the prostate and that’s why it took so long 🙏 rip the franklin expedition 🙏 and also that’s why roald did it so good it was because, hand to god, that man is a sadomasochistic giver not a receiver aaaaaand post! and post.

[leomitchellart]

Inktober 2024 no.24 - “Expedition” 🗺️

🎶 Ah, for just one time I would take the Northwest Passage, To find the hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea, Tracing one warm line through a land so wild and savage, And make a Northwest Passage to the sea🎵 

[fog-world]

[life-imitates-art-far-more]

Richard Westall (1765-1836) "Nelson and the Bear" (1809) Oil on panel Located in the National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London

The painting depicts an incident in 1773 involving Horatio Nelson, then a fifteen-year-old midshipman accompanying a polar expedition to try and find the Northwest Passage. Nelson and a friend were attacked by a polar bear, Nelson's musket misfired and he reversed it to try and beat the bear off with the butt end. His life was likely saved when the ice split in two separating him from the animal. In the background is the bomb vessel HMS Carcass on which Nelson was a crew member. One of the ship's guns is seen firing in an attempt to scare off the bear. It omits the presence of Nelson's comrade, showing him confidently standing up to the bear alone.

[lilaccatholic]

Who up ready to just one time take the Northwest Passage