Discovery Bay, Winter
SOLD September 2012 |
Vintage woodburytype from the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-6, printed 1878 and included in George Strong Nares, "Narrative of a voyage to the Polar Sea..." Mounted on sheet imprinted "Permanent Woodbury Print" and "Discovery Bay, Winter." The Arctic Expedition's photographs were taken by Thomas Mitchell, paymaster of HMS Discovery and George White, engineer on HMS Alert. Print size 4.5 x 7 inches (12x18 cm).
The British Arctic Expedition was an attempt to reach the North Pole directly by sea, based on a period belief that the Pole was surrounded by an Open Polar Sea. However, the widely-accepted Open Polar Sea was a myth, and instead of open water the expedition encountered only endless frozen wastes. After surviving the winter of 1875 trapped in a frozen and inhospitable landscape, both HMS Discovery and Alert were forced to withdraw without having reached their goal.
