tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post5796917846545790038..comments2024-03-18T18:05:25.821-07:00Comments on VISIONS OF THE NORTH: Sir John Franklin, Poet?Russell Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11023313195827310776noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-34555748653068620682012-05-30T07:14:13.491-07:002012-05-30T07:14:13.491-07:00Perhaps some of you can find this images interesti...Perhaps some of you can find this images interesting (if you already didn´t know about its existence). <br /><br />It´s the original notebook of J.Franklin written during the worst moments in the 1819 expedition in Fort Enterprise.<br /><br />In fact, this writting doesn´t help much to put some light on the poem question. I also know that there are more and better examples to compare to, and besides, because is obvious that this part of the journal was written in great anxiety and difficulty. But I think that this thing fits on your post with the scanned manuscripts you mention. <br /><br />They are in the John Murray Archive (National Library of Scotland).<br /><br />http://digital.nls.uk/jma/gallery/title.cfm?id=37&seq=24<br /><br />You can find there the watercolours of George Back.Andrés Paredeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17283802897907742244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-5603894043145367902012-05-29T05:49:39.967-07:002012-05-29T05:49:39.967-07:00I agree that the poem is not in Franklin's han...I agree that the poem is not in Franklin's handwriting. The most distinctive difference I can see is that Franklin always seems to start every m or n with an extra flourish when at the start of a word.Peter Carneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-49786084036252950982012-05-22T11:47:19.182-07:002012-05-22T11:47:19.182-07:00Thank you very much for sharing our post with a wi...Thank you very much for sharing our post with a wider audience. We have published a new post on Non Solus that correctly identifies the poem by Eleanor Porden based on Martyn Beardsley's research at the Derbyshire Public Record Office, which appears in his Franklin biography, Deady Winter. I hope that you and your blog followers will have the chance to visit the University of Illinois's exhibition on Polar exploration in early 2013. The exhibit is being held in comemmoration of the hundredth anniversary of the Crocker Land Expedition and will feature this copy of Franklin's narrative as well as other Arctic highpoints, including a manuscript of The North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chronicle.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-56902399490519780222012-05-22T04:57:53.126-07:002012-05-22T04:57:53.126-07:00The handwriting in the copy of the poem in this bo...The handwriting in the copy of the poem in this book doesn't look like Franklin's to me -- the letterforms are similar, but nearly all of SJF's letters have a hurried look and a more pronounced 'slant' -- I don't have samples of Eleanor's, but I'm thinking this is more likely in her hand.Russell Potterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11023313195827310776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-29471419882521157332012-05-21T23:41:26.801-07:002012-05-21T23:41:26.801-07:00I actually held and transcribed the original of th...I actually held and transcribed the original of the poem in a letter from Eleanor to Franklin at the Derbyshire Record Office when I was researching Deadly Winter, and she certainly wrote it. Franklin was no poet!billybloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06892046980111756373noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-51298733761494499652012-05-21T05:17:02.036-07:002012-05-21T05:17:02.036-07:00I´ve found a reference about the procedence of thi...I´ve found a reference about the procedence of this poem (i mean this if it exists only one) in the book of Stuart Houston called "Arctic Artist: The journal and paintings of George Back" in the page 284 (This page is one of them opportunely visible in the partial part offered by google books).<br /><br />He states that Franklin wrote a witty poem about "difficulties of authorship for a man of action" because his aversion on writting in general.Andrés Paredeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17283802897907742244noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-36829425513491051722012-05-20T09:01:15.539-07:002012-05-20T09:01:15.539-07:00The handwriting is strikingly similar to Sir John&...The handwriting is strikingly similar to Sir John's so I'd guess that, although Eleanor authored the poem, Sir John transcribed it into the book. That said, I haven't looked at a sample of Eleanor's handwriting, which I expect would clinch the issue.Peter Carneyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11720739633773324546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-51918401697486142562012-05-18T08:14:44.889-07:002012-05-18T08:14:44.889-07:00Sorry to pour cold water on this but the poem was ...Sorry to pour cold water on this but the poem was actually written by Eleanor, not John! As soon as I saw the first line I rushed to look in my book Deadly Winter and there it was on p101. While he was holed up working on his account of the overland expedition he wrote to her complaining about how hard the work was, and the poem was something of a tease on her part which accompanied her letter of reply. Looks like she must have copied it into the book they gave their friends the Richardsons.billybloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06892046980111756373noreply@blogger.com