Pictures from Back’s Narrative of the Arctic land expedition

Click on the numbers above to view the 4 pictures.

1. “Crossing Lake Aylmer, June 25th, 1834”. JRR 3595

2. “Interview with the Esquimaux of the Thleweechodezeth [Back River], July 28th, 1834.” JRR 3593

3. “Thunder storm near Point Ogle, August 8th, 1834”. JRR 3594

4. “Esquimaux woman and man of the Thleweechodezeth (Back River) July 28th, 1834.” JRR 3598

Edward Francis Finden. Pictures from Back’s Narrative of the Arctic land expedition, London, 1836. Engraved by E. Finden from drawings by George Back. Coloured with water-colour [by Owen Staples ca 1915?]

George Back, an officer in the Royal Navy, accompanied Franklin on both of his overland expeditions in the 1820s, and led two expeditions to the Arctic in the 1830s. In his land expedition of 1833-1835, he explored the Thlew-ee-choh, or Great Fish River (now the Back River), and the seacoast around it. He was an accomplished artist, whose sketchbooks, preserved at the National Archives, and the Scott Polar Research Institute, provide an important record of Arctic exploration. They were used to illustrate Franklin’s books as well as his own.