Bernard
Quaritch, Ltd., 2009 pp 722. £110 /$180.
Reviewed
by Robert B. Stephenson, The
Antarctic Circle
Robert
HeadandÕs great work, Chronological List of Antarctic Expeditions and
Related Historical Events (referred
throughout this review as Headland I) has re-appeared, now entitled A
Chronology of Antarctic Exploration. A Synopsis of Events and Activities from
the Earliest Times until the International Polar Years, 2007-09 (Headland II). All who know Bob have known for years
that a Ônew expanded editionÕ was in the works. Encountering him at polar
events or at SPRI or at the annual gathering at Athy, he would often pull out
the fat typescript and invite you to have a look.
The work—which he
liked to refer as his Ôdoor stopÕ—enjoyed a gestation period of many
years. When I first mentioned it on the antarctic-circle.org website I noted that
it was Ôdue for publication probably in late 2001.Õ In 2003 I commented that Ôthere was a sort of
indefiniteness as to publication date.Õ In 2004, I quipped ÔImminent, I'm
told.Õ
As it turned out Headland II was launched at New
Zealand House in London on 20 February 2009. Has it been worth the wait? Well,
yes, and every Antarctican will want and should have the newest version. But
this is not to say that its predecessor should be consigned to the dustheap.
Much of what appears in the newest edition can be found with little alteration
in the earlier one. More on comparisons in a moment. LetÕs first look at the
history of this effort.
In his Introduction,
Bob gives some background:
ÔThis
list was first compiled by Dr B.B. [Brian Birley] Roberts in 1945 for the
Research Department of the Foreign Office, London. It became available publicly
in 1948 as part of the second edition of the Antarctic Pilot (Hydrographic Department, London). Dr Roberts
continued editing the list and published a more comprehensive version in the
Scott Polar Research InstituteÕs Polar Record [Chronological List of Antarctic Expeditions in Volume 9, Numbers 59 and 60 (May and September
1958)].ÉÕ
This
appeared as an 87-page off-print published by the Institute and selling for
Ôseven shillings and sixpence.Õ One would immediately recognize the design and
format as the basis for both Headland I and II. (One difference is that Roberts
assigned no Index No. (Headland I) or Entry No. (Headland II) to his 600
some-odd entries.)
Bob continues:
ÔFollowing the 1958 edition, Dr Roberts continued
revising the list for a later edition until his death in 1978. Among his papers
he left an extensively annotated copy of the 1958 edition, about 800 index
cards giving details of additional entries, a series of files on many national
expeditions with related correspondence, a collection of notes about
supplementary sources which he intended to check and other related papers. In
addition he left an endowment, the Brian Roberts Fund, to provide money for research
on polar matters. In 1983 I was asked by the administrators of the Fund to
prepare a revision of the chronology.Õ
Headland I appeared in
1989 just over thirty years after Dr RobertsÕ Polar Record version. And now, twenty years after that, Headland II
makes its appearance.
______________________
Those not familiar
with the book, might wonder whatÕs there? Bob begins his Introduction by
describing the Object: ÔThe purpose of this chronology is to record, as
concisely as practicable, the history of discovery, exploration, exploitation,
surveying, scientific investigation, administration, and related subjects in
all regions of the Antarctic.Õ Details are given on Ôapproximately 5000
expeditions (individual vessels in entries for multiple voyages [mainly sealers
and yachts], every voyage of a fleet, and each national annual expedition being
counted separately).Õ
Entries relate to
either expeditions or events. Each entry includes, when known or appropriate,
the Year, Event, Leader or Master, Vessel, Entry No. and Description. I could
find no single entry longer than about half a page. The front matter has some particularly useful
compilations (Antarctic Treaty matters, the very handy Stages of Exploration,
Winter Scientific Stations and Bases—both historic and
present-day—and the capsule summary of National Antarctic Operations).
The Index dominates the back matter in both editions.
______________________
So
how do Headland I and II compare? As to content, design and presentation, they
are close to being the same. So letÕs look at them statistically at first.
Pages:
730
vs 722 (thatÕs right, Headland I is longer than Headland II, butÉ
Page size (height x width in mm): 245 x 171 vs 300 x 210.
Page
area in square meters: 30.58
vs 45.49.
Thickness
in mm: 44
vs 43.
Weight
in kilos: 1.7179811
vs 2.3558454 (ÔHeavy enough
to kill small rodents,Õ according to Bob)
Price (that I paid): $114.50
vs $183 (List: £110)
Plates: 29
vs 40 (all repeated and eleven added)
Graphs or Histograms: 4
vs 8
Maps: 27
vs 27 (one has been added, two have been combined)
Introduction: 1-49
(49pp) vs 9-72 (64pp)
Bibliography: 604-621
(18pp) single column vs 627-634
(8pp) double column.
Index: 625-730
(106pp) vs 635-719 (85pp)
Entries: 3342
on 551pp vs 4865 on 553pp
BC <1%
vs <1%
To
1500 <1%
vs <1%
1500-1599 <1%
vs <1%
1600-1699 1.4%
vs 1.1%
1700-1799 4.7%
vs 3.8%
1800-1899 31%
vs 26%
1900-1999 61%
vs 60%
2000- –
vs 7%
Heroic
Age* 9.3%
vs 7.8%
*
Belgica expedition (1897-99) –
Quest expedition (1922)
Bob describes some of
the changes. ÔIt is estimated that fewer than 10% of the entries in the 1989
edition have been significantly amended. As well as those after 1989 the
changes include some additional minor voyages of discovery, several hundred
more sealing voyages, many more complete names, vessel names for the whaling
industry, some corrections to dates and notes, better indexing of subjects,
revision of the histograms and bibliography, and similar improvements in
completeness and correctness. More than 1500 additional entries have been
inserted.Õ
______________________
Headland II is an
essential reference for any Antarctic library or collection and well worth the
price. But I do have some small criticisms and one a bit larger.
The size of Headland I
makes it easier to use than Headland II. The added dustwrapper, though
attractive enough, kind of gets in the way when one pulls the volume down from
the shelf or places it flat on the desk.
The entries of both
editions are numbered but, as Bob explains, these are not comparable, will
change again in any future editions and shouldnÕt be used for citing. A
concordance appears on the last page of Headland II but whatÕs really needed is
something added to the entry itself. For those entries that are in both
editions, both Index Nos. (Headland I) and Entry Nos. (Headland II) could have
been included. For new entries, just the single number. Doing this would have
had the added benefit of making it easy to identify entries that are appearing
for the first time in Headland II. Of course, this would have meant more work
but whatÕs another year in the scheme of things?
There are numerous
entries in both editions that, to me, are of questionable interest in an
Antarctic reference volume. To take just one example: Tristan da Cunha. This is
a long way from the Antarctic and doesnÕt appear on any of the maps included
but 187 entries are devoted to it, nearly 4% of the total.
The number of tourist
visits to the Antarctic, both on large ships and private yachts, has grown
remarkably in the years since Headland I. And this is clearly shown by the
entries added in Headland II. Although of less interest to me than earlier
explorations and events, particularly those of the Heroic Age, I recognize that
some day, perhaps even today, this will be useful information. Certainly no one
else is collecting it in this manner.
Regarding maps: The
non-historic ones are more sharply rendered although pretty much the same as in
Headland I, with one notable exception. Only the highest elevation is given in
Headland II while in its predecessor, the highest appears but the contours are
also labeled. Including contours but without labels or knowing the interval,
makes the maps less useful. The map for the South Shetlands in both editions is
woefully inadequate other than to show the general arrangement of the major
islands. This, of course, may have been the intention but having more detail
and more place names would be a big improvement. I remain thrilled that Bob
continues to use the nomenclature of Greater and Lesser Antarctica. I still
have to think a bit to work out which is East Antarctica and which is West.
Although there are more
photographs in Headland II and they are somewhat larger, they appear darker and
are not as sharp as those in Headland I.
In the Contents, there
are sections 5.1, 5.2, 5.4 and 5.5. But no 5.3. Actually, there is a 5.3
(mislabeled as 5.4) but no 5.5.
IÕve searched high and
low and have yet to find a key to the symbols used in various entries, an
example being number 3575. OneÕs a black box, another a round sun. IÕm assuming
these refer to summer and winter but some explanation would seem warranted.
My biggest criticism,
though, is that there is no electronic/DVD or on-line version. The physical
book is key, but the ability to search and sort and group and count would make
the information all the more accessible and useful. It would also make
correcting errors and adding more content much easier and more likely to
happen.
With all this aside,
Bob should be justly proud of the final outcome of his Herculean efforts over
so many years. This work will assist students, writers and researchers for
years to come. One wonders what Bob will set off to do next.