An Exhibition of Rare Books from the History of Science Collection at the
Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering and Technology

Ice: A Victorian Romance - A four-part lecture series by William Ashworth, Ph.D.

All lectures will be at 4:30 p.m. in the Linda Hall Library Auditorium. This lecture series is offered in conjunction with the Library's new exhibition, "Ice: A Victorian Romance," which opens May 1, 2008. The lectures are scheduled as follows:

• May 12: Arctic Ice: The Search for a North-West Passage, 1818-1838
• May 19: Southern Ice: The Discovery of Antarctica, 1838-1844
• June 2: Prehistoric Ice: The Glacial Theory, 1837-1860
• June 9: Unforgiving Ice: Looking for Franklin, 1848-1859

William Ashworth, Associate Professor of History at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a long-time history of science consultant at the library, is the curator of the exhibition and author of the exhibition catalog.

This event is open to the Friends of the Linda Hall Library. To join the Friends, click here. Non-members are welcome to attend (and become a Friend) at a cost of $30. You may reserve a place by calling Nanci Regan at (816) 926-9770, or by email at regann@lindahall.org.

About the Exhibition

The exhibition will feature books that chronicle the search for a North West Passage in the period from 1818 to 1860, including the desperate search for the Franklin expedition that disappeared in 1845. It will also include works on the first assault on the Antarctic continent by British, French and American expeditions in the 1830s, as well as major works of glacial studies, which, around 1840, mark the beginning of the idea of an Ice Age.

The expedition and the glacial books are well illustrated, often in color, and they show forbidding icy landscapes, the dark of the arctic winter, ships assaulted by ice and frozen in for the winter; encounters with Inuit natives, their kayaks and igloos; polar animals like narwhals, penguins, and polar bears; glaciers and alpine peaks. There are also maps galore, which start out in 1818 with vast empty spaces and gradually get filled in as the Arctic Archipelago, the Alps, and the Antarctic continent are explored.

The event is free and open to the public. Space is limited and reservations are required. Please call (816) 926-8772 by April 25.

Celebrating the discovery of the north magnetic pole, from Robert Huish, The Last Voyage of Capt. Sir John Ross, 1835.

Moonlit icebergs and the Advance in Baffin Bay, from Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic Explorations, 1856.