This Distant and Unsurveyed Country: A Woman's Winter at Baffin Island, 1857-1858 (Mcgill-Queen's Native and Northern Series) [Hardcover]

W. Gillies Ross (Author), Margaret Penny (Author), William Penny (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1997 | Series: Mcgill-Queen's Native and Northern Series (Book 15)

In 1857 Margaret Penny set off from Aberdeen, Scotland, with her husband, Captain William Penny, aboard the whaler "Lady Franklin" on a wintering voyage to what is now the eastern Canadian Arctic. Wives of British captains rarely sailed with their husbands and Margaret Penny was one of the few women to break with tradition, becoming the first European woman to enter Baffin Island. Incorporating the journal she kept during the expedition with commentary by W. Gilles Ross, this text aims to recreate 19th-century Baffin Island for the modern reader and provides a perspective on artic whaling, the Canadian Arctic, and the interaction between Inuit and European culture at the time of the voyage.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I was impressed with the way Ross leads us into the life of the Penny family, the whaling industry, the Inuit culture. His commentary on each entry by Margaret Penny is in fact a self-contained essay on some dimension of the voyage. Although, as a woman, Margaret Penny lacked an authoritative voice, Ross gives her that voice, turning a set of restrained observations into an engaging document." Ronald Rompkey, Department of English, Memorial University "An exceptionally fine book. While the journal is quite important on its own, the book's greatest value is as a vehicle providing Ross an opportunity to share his own vast and detailed knowledge of arctic whaling in general and William Penny specifically. Ross's knowledge of arctic whaling is exceptional and seemingly inexhaustible. His style is engaging, reflective, humane, and appropriately humorous. This is truly the work of a mature scholar at his peak." Richard C. Davis, Department of English, University of Calgary

Product Details

• Hardcover: 258 pages
• Publisher: Mcgill Queens Univ Pr (September 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0773516743
• ISBN-13: 978-0773516748
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,282,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #83 in Books > History > Americas > Greenland

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