In Northern Mists - Volumes One and Two (Illustrated)

From Nansen's Introduction

This book owes its existence in the first instance to a rash promise made some years ago to my friend Dr. J. Scott Keltie, of London, that I would try, when time permitted, to contribute a volume on the history of arctic voyages to his series of books on geographical exploration. The subject was an attractive one; I thought I was fairly familiar with it, and did not expect the book to take a very long time when once I made a start with it. On account of other studies it was a long while before I could do this; but when at last I seriously took the work in hand, the subject in return monopolised my whole powers.

It appeared to me that the natural foundation for a history of arctic voyages was in the first place to make clear the main features in the development of knowledge of the North in early times. By tracing how ideas of the Northern World, appearing first in a dim twilight, change from age to age, how the old myths and creations of the imagination are constantly recurring, sometimes in new shapes, and how new ones are added to them, we have a curious insight into the working of the human mind in its endeavour to subject to itself the world and the universe.

Note from the Publisher:

Having read both current authors on the subject of arctic exploration and Nansen, I found Nansen a must to read - as a contemporary of some of the less successful explorers such as John Franklin, Nansen , unlike modern critics, had great praise for Franklin, citing Franklin's creation of the vitamin C lozenge as one of the key elements in his (Nansen's) success. Many examples like this through Nansen's works esp Farthest North, show the value in reading the sources to any student of the subject and provide fascinating insight into the times.