HOWGATE, Henry W.

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Polar Colonization. First edition, bearing the author's rubber-stamped gift inscription to the front wrapper, "Compliments of H. W. Howgate, U.S.A". Issued in support of Howgate's proposal to Congress, the work presents his manifesto for Arctic exploration and permanent settlement as a basis for sustained scientific and geographic research in the high Arctic.The volume reviews recent expeditions in the Smith Sound region before outlining plans to establish a colony at Lady Franklin Bay on the north-east coast of Ellesmere Island, and notes on the Howgate Preliminary Arctic Expedition to Cumberland Sound (1877-8). A substantial appendix reproduces Howgate's paper, "Plan for the Exploration of the Arctic Region," read before the American Geographical Society in January 1878, followed by letters and statements from scientific institutions and experienced polar explorers, including Julius Payer and John Rae, "endorsing Howgate's plan, supplying information and advice on Arctic conditions and methods of exploration, equipment, etc." (Arctic Bibliography).Influenced by recent British exploration in northern Ellesmere Island, Howgate advocated the establishment of long-term polar stations supplied annually by ship rather than reliance on a permanent vessel; his assumption that Lady Franklin Bay could be reached reliably each summer would later prove dangerously optimistic.

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