Sketchbook of the Barren Lands and Sea Coast, 1834-1835, relating to the 1833-1835 Back Arctic Expedition
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Sketchbook of the Barren Lands and Sea Coast, 1834-1835, relating to the 1833-1835 Back Arctic Expedition
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Record information Sketchbook of the Barren Lands and Sea Coast, 1834-1835, relating to the 1833-1835 Back Arctic Expedition
Date:1834-1835.Reference:Box number: BK-007Type of material:ArtFound in:Archives / Collections and FondsItem ID number:3708407Date(s):1834-1835.Bilingual equivalent:Place of creation:Northwest TerritoriesExtent:6 watercolours: watercolour over pencil; grey, blue and green wash over pencil; 13.0 x 21.0 cm.
37 drawings: pencil; 13.0 x 21.0 cm.
Image 13.000 x 21.000 cmLanguage of material:EnglishScope and content:A sketchbook kept by Captain George Back during the 1833-1835 overland expedition whose purpose was to descend the Thlew-ee-choh-dezeth or Great Fish River (now renamed in his honour the Back River) in an attempt to locate the John Ross expedition which had not bee heard from since it sailed to Prince Regent Inlet in 1829. Back's first sketchbook documenting this expedition from the Ottawa to the Great Fish River (April 26-October 19, 1833) is now in the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, England. When in the spring of 1834 Back received the news of Ross's safe return to England, Back could turn his attention towards the second object of the expedition, the exploration of the Great Fish River and the charting of the northern coastline from its mouth to Point Turnagain, the furthest point reached by John Franklin on his first overland expedition in 1819-1822. In early June 1834 Back set out from Fort Reliance on Great Slave Lake, but after spending several weeks exploring Chantrey Inlet he was forced to turn back because of the ice and fog, returning to his winter station in late September. This sketchbook documents this undertaking from June 10 to September 26, 1834. In addition, seven views date from March 1835, mostly recording Back's visit to Parry Falls. The sketchbook concludes with nine drawings of animals, and one of icebergs, all of which are undated. It is hard to say whether they document actual scenes witnessed during Back's Arctic explorations or whether they are meant to represent more generalized evocations of his Arctic experience. The sketch of the dugong on folio 41 recto aùnd one of a donkey with an unidentified figure (folio 44 recto) suggest that the sketchbook was used again perhaps at a later date for non-Arctic subjects.
It is interesting to note that Back inscribed the word "Camera" opposite eight of his pencil drawings, indicating his use of an optical instrument, a camera lucida, in sketching these views. Only on the sketches which Back identified as being made with the camera lucida can one discern at the bottom of each composition a small round depression in the paper (8 mm. in diameter) evidently made when the instrument was clamped to the paper.
Among numerous other manuscripts pertaining to the 1833-1835 expedition, Back's letter book (April 19, 1834 to May 1835) and rough journal (2 volumes) are now on deposit at the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England. Copies of these journals are available under certain restrictions on LAC microfilm (A-820 and A-821 respectively). Six views from this sketchbook were chosen for engraved or lithographed plates in Back's "Narrative of the Arctic Land Expedition", published in 1836.
This sketchbook was acquired by LAC from Henry Stevens, Son & Stiles, book dealers, London.
This is one of five separate sketchbooks owned by Library and Archives Canada done by George Back during various Arctic expeditions (two sketchbooks from the 1819-1822 expedition; two sketchbooks from the 1825-1827 expedition, and one sketchbook from the 1833-1835 expedition.) LAC also owns single-sheet watercolours from various sources, as well as many single-sheet prints.Provenance:Additional information:Custodial history:Family descent.Arrangement note:The sketchbook consists of two green leather covers closed by a metal clasp and 64 folios, each measuring 13.0 x 21.0 cm. (5 1/8" x 8 1/4") with the watermark: J. WHATMAN 1829. All of the edges of the folios have been marbled in red and blue. Although many of the folios have come loose and some have been removed from the volume, the original order has been maintained. The system of pagination recorded in square brackets in descriptions after the folio number was added after the sketchbook was acquired by LAC in 1921. The inside front cover is inscribed in brown ink, top: "Captain Back's/Sketch Book./Barren lands and Sea Coast." The following notation is found in brown ink, folio 1 recto, upper right: "F Res. - S. 52˚ 54' W - 162 5 - Miles."Citation/reference note:See George Back, "Narrative of the Arctic Land expedition to the Mouth of the Great Fish River, and along the shores of the Arctic Ocean, in the years 1833, 1834, and 1835 by Captain George Back, R.N., Commander of the Expedition", (London: John Murray, 1836). Reprint, Edmonton: M.G. Hurtig Ltd., 1970).Reproduction note:The sketchbook and all of its contents are available in microfiche format as part of the Archives Canada Microfiche Series nos. 14-15 (Ottawa: Public Archives of Canada, 1981).Related material:Copies of Back's "Narrative... 1833, 1834, and 1835..." are held in the Rare Book Room of the former National Library of Canada.
Single-sheet copies of the six prints reproduced from this sketchbook are also held as part of the George Back Fonds.Subject heading:Source:PrivateOther accession no.:1921-3-2 -
Ordering and viewing options Conditions of access:Graphic (art)[Consultation Open]
Sketchbook cannot be viewed without the individual assistance of an art archivist or the art custodian.Box [1921-003][Consultation Open]BK-007 Item no. assigned by LAC 2[Consultation Open]Terms of use:Copyright expired. No restrictions on use for publication or reproduction.You can order materials in advance to be ready for you when you visit. You will need a user card to do this.
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