Abstract
The chapter provides background to the Swedish Arctic expedition to Spitsbergen (today Svalbard) led by Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld in 1872–73. It places the expedition in an international historical context to explain its goals and several details in its scientific and logistical planning, which included the first overwintering for scientific purposes on Svalbard. Based on research in the historical archives of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, the chapter recounts the way plans were changed to counter the many setbacks the expedition faced during its execution. It documents the contacts between Nordenskiöld and Benjamin Leigh Smith before, during, and after Smith’s and Nordenskiöld’s different expeditions to Svalbard in 1872 and 1873, and it confirms the importance of Smith’s rescue operation when his ship, the Diana, brought supplies and antiscorbutics to the icebound Swedish expedition at its camp in June 1873.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barr S, Lüdecke C (eds) (2010) The history of the International Polar Years (IPYs). Springer, Heidelberg
Berton P (2000) The Arctic grail: The quest for the Northwest Passage and the North Pole 1818–1909. Lyons Press, New York
Capelotti PJ (2010) Benjamin Leigh Smith’s third Arctic expedition: Svalbard, 1873. Polar Rec 46(239):359–371
Clase L (1873) Utdrag ur Journalen ombord å Onkel Adam, 1 February, item 114, Samlade inbundna handlingar rörande de svenska polarexpeditionerna 1872–1873 [Collected documents regarding the Swedish polar expeditions 1872–1873] box F02b:1 [hereafter, F02b:1], A.E. Nordenskiöld Collection. Center for History of Science, Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm, Sweden [hereafter, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS]
Danenhower JW (1885) The polar question. In: Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, vol 11, pp 633–699
David R (2000) The Arctic in the British imagination 1818–1914. Manchester University Press, Manchester
Drivenes E-A et al (2006) Into the ice: The history of Norway and the polar regions. Gyldendal Akademisk, Oslo
Edström J (1961) August Wijkander: Vetenskapsmannen, kommunalmannen, riksdagsmannen. Göteborgs Kungl. Vetenskaps- och vitterhets-samhälle, Gothenburg
Enwall A (1872) Intyg om båtsman Svan, 22 December, item 97, F02b:1, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Enwall A (1878) to AE Nordenskiöld, 16 March, Letters to AE Nordenskiöld main series, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Hedin S (1926) Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld: En levnadsbeskrivning. Bonnier, Stockholm
Kish G (1973) North-East Passage: Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, his life and times. Nico Israel, Amsterdam
Kjellman FR (1875) Svenska polar-expeditionen år 1872–1873 under ledning av A.E. Nordenskiöld. P.A. Norstedt & Söner, Stockholm
Leigh Smith B (1888) to AE Nordenskiöld, 2 May, Letters to AE Nordenskiöld main series, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Leigh Smith B (1888) to AE Nordenskiöld, 3 June, Letters to AE Nordenskiöld main series, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Leslie A (1879) The Arctic voyages of Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld. Macmillan, London
Liljequist GH (1993) High latitudes: A history of Swedish polar travels and research. Streiffert, Stockholm
Markham CR (1865) On the best route for north polar exploration. Proc Roy Geogr Soc 9:138–163
Markham CR (1872–73) On discoveries east of Spitzbergen, and attempts to reach the pole on the Spitzbergen meridians. Proc Roy Geogr Soc 17:97–107
Nicol S (2007) Women over-winterers in Svalbard, 1898–1941. Polar Rec 43(224):49–53
Nordenskiöld AE (1872) Account of an expedition to Greenland in the year 1870. Geol Mag 9(97):289–306
Nordenskiöld AE (1872) to Oscar Dickson, 1 October, item 92, F02b:1, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Nordenskiöld AE (1873) to Oscar Dickson, 15 March, item 105, F02b:1, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Nordenskiöld AE (1873) to Oscar Dickson, 25 January, item 112, F02b:1, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Nordenskiöld AE (1875) On the former climate of the polar regions. Geol Mag, 525–532
Palander L (1872) to AE Nordenskiöld, 29 December, item 99, F02b:1, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Petermann A (1865) Die Eisverhältnisse in den Polar-Meeren und die Möglichkeit des Vordringens in Schiffen bis zu den höchsten Breiten. Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen 11:136–146
Petermann A (1872) Geographie und Erforschung der Polar-Regionen, Nr. 60: Die neue Österreichische Nordpolar-Expedition unter Commando von Weyprecht und Payer und sechs andere neue Expeditionen, Rückblick auf die Geschichte arktischer Entdeckungen, die Walfische und das offene Polarmeer. Petermanns Geographische Mitteilungen 18:145–150
Ramsay H (1950) Nordenskiöld: Sjöfararen. Schildt, Helsinki
Riffenburgh B (1993) The myth of the explorer. Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge
Schimanski J, Spring U (2015) Passagiere des Eises: Polarhelten und arktische Diskurse 1874. Böhlau Verlag, Wien
Skrydlov A (2019) N.A. Nordenskiöld’s polar expeditions and the Russian Society. In: Earth and environmental science 302: 4th international scientific conference “Arctic: History and Modernity”. IOP conference series, Bristol. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/302/1/012003
Svar på förfrågningar angående möjligheterna att till arktiska trakter medföra renar [Answers to questioner regarding the possibilities of bringing reindeer to the Arctic]. Dossier 10, box F02b:1, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1892) Spetsbergen Maj 1892 [memorandum]. Archives of the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1902 dossiersystem, vol 308, file 70:I, Swedish National Archives, Stockholm
Uppgift på den proviant som af Hr. Smitt skänkts till Svenska polar expeditionen [List of the provisions bestowed by Mr. Smith to the Swedish polar expedition] (1873) 16 June, item 120, F02b:1, AEN Coll. CHS, RSAS
Ustad Stav T (2012) Derfor døde 17 i dette huset. NRK Troms & Finnmark. https://www.nrk.no/tromsogfinnmark/avslorer-hvorfor-17-fangstmenn-dode-1.8407675
Wråkberg U (1999) Politik och vetenskap i A.E. Nordenskiölds ockupationsförsök av Spetsbergen år 1871–1873. In: Wråkberg U (ed) Arktisk gruvdrift: Teknik, vetenskap och historia i norr. Jernkontoret, Stockholm, pp 39–52
Wråkberg U (1999) Vetenskapens vikingatåg: Perspektiv på svensk polarforskning 1860–1930. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm
Wråkberg U (2002) The politics of naming: Contested observations and the shaping of geographical knowledge. In: Bravo M, Sörlin S (eds) Narrating the Arctic: Collective memory, science, and the Nordic nations, 1800–1940. Science History Publications, Canton, Mass., pp 155–197
Wråkberg U (2006) In the days of pioneers and amateurs: On the early history of Arctic archaeology. In: V Starkov (ed) Spitsbergen in the history research works. Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, pp 40–87
Wråkberg U (2009) IPY field stations: Functions and meanings. In: Shadian JM, Tennberg M (eds) Legacies and change in polar sciences: Historical, legal and political reflections on the International Polar Year. Ashgate Publishing, Farnham, pp 47–71
Wråkberg U (2019) A.E. Nordenskiöld in Swedish memory: The origin and uses of Arctic heroism. Acta Borealia 36(2):166–182
Wråkberg U, Lindberg-Wada G (eds) (2002) An Arctic passage to the Far East: The visit of the Swedish Vega expedition to Meiji Japan in 1879. Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, Stockholm
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wråkberg, U. (2021). Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld and His Svalbard Expedition of 1872–73. In: Capelotti, P.J. (eds) The Coldest Coast. Historical Geography and Geosciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67880-7_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-67880-7_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-67879-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-67880-7
eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)