NANSEN, Fridtjof.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

In Northern Mists. Arctic Exploration in Early Times. First edition in English, originally published in Norwegian earlier the same year. In Northern Mists is a historical survey of the opening of the Arctic from classical antiquity to Cabot and the Portuguese discoveries in the north-west and includes an account of the Viking discovery of America. This handsomely produced work was written by Nansen at the request of the Royal Geographical Society. "It is still a classic in the field. As an explorer of the Arctic, he had the widest experience of its physical nature and life and of its approaches from Europe. Nansen applied his observations to the intimate study of the old Norse literature and other medieval sources. These sources materials he formed into an historical geography, using many lengthy excerpts and translations" (Sauer, p. 3).There appear to have been two variants of the cloth bindin, the other having the front cover lettered and panelled in black.

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