The history of Arctic exploration to 1876

A detailed map centred on the North Pole and extending south to the British Isles, Hudson Bay, Graham Island in British Columbia, Hokkaido in Japan and St Petersburg. The dates of Arctic discoveries are printed in red, beginning with the search for the North West and North East Passages in the 1550s and ending with the British Arctic Expedition of 1875-6, led by Sir George Nares. Bottom left is a coastal profile of Wrangel Island by American whaler Captain Thomas Long, who named the island in 1867.