[ALS to Norman Lockyer "The Editor of Nature".]

£3,750 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A lengthy and engaging letter from John Rae (1813-1893), Arctic explorer and doctor, to Norman Lockyer (1836-1920), the editor of Nature , which was the foremost scientific journal of the day. Born and raised in Orkney, Rae first travelled to the Arctic as a ship’s surgeon for the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1834. He spent the following decades living and working amongst the indigenous people of the region, and stood apart from many of his fellow explorers of the nineteenth century for his understanding of traditional hunting and survival practices. Of all of the expeditions sent to search for the lost Sir John Franklin and his men, Rae made the most significant discoveries towards an understanding of their fate. These findings, including evidence of cannibalism, had Rae pilloried by the outraged British press, most notably Charles Dickens in Household Words , and it was not until McClintock verified his claims several years later that his reputation was to some degree cleared. The present letter shows Rae near the end of his life, contributing zoological observations from his time in the Arctic to a discussion in Nature: “When in Northern Canada I have often known fish - the grey “sucker” or carp especially - frozen solid throughout. By exposure of some hours to a temperature of 20° to 30° below Zero, but after being placed for some time in water, came to life again and swam about in apparent comfort as if nothing unusual had happened.” He then goes on to quote a letter from an

• Year: 1888

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