Polar Exploration

The American Geographical Society Library collections includes a wealth of photographs documenting the discovery and exploration of the polar regions. Examples of early works include prints of Greenland taken during the Isaac Israel Hayes Arctic explorations of 1860-61 and 1869 and stereoscopic slides from the Arctic expedition of Count Johann (Hans) Nepomuk Wilczek aboard the SS Isbjörn in 1872. Images in the form of prints, glass plate negatives and lantern slides document the aero-navigation feats of Roald Amundsen, Lincoln Ellsworth, Umberto Nobile, Richard Byrd and Sir Hubert Wilkins.  Also included are large collections of prints from the eight Arctic expeditions of Louise Arner Boyd and from the Grenfell-Forbes expedition to northern Labrador to name a few…