New manuscript of John Rae's Voyages and Travels

As I've worked with Harry Goodsir's closest living relation, Mike Tracy, I've always been amazed at his thoroughness in finding things in archives that I'd never thought could be found -- or even knew existed. One of his more surprising discoveries came just a few weeks ago, when he let me know that there was a hitherto-unknown manuscript of John Rae's "Voyages and Travels of Dr. Rae in the Arctic Regions," an open letter from 1856 which had been privately published in pamphlet form, which even then is quite scarce. The letter, in its printed form, was simply addressed to "My Dear Sir," as it was apparently meant to be a public defense by Rae of his exertions, rather than a personal letter to any one individual. That there should be a manuscript version -- and in pencil! -- and in Australia! -- was a complete and utter surprise. As we waited for a paper photocopy, apparently the only sort that the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia could provide, we both wondered whether, perhaps, this manuscript might reveal something about its composition, or whether indeed it was initially addressed to any one person.

The photocopy, in that matter, was a disappointment; it added nothing about any particular recipient for the original text. However, from other materials in the same folder, Mike and I learned that the pencil version -- a copy rather than a source for the printed text -- had in fact been made for a gentleman named "Mr. Silver"; in an accompanying cover letter, Rae apologized that he had no copies of the pamphlet to spare, but had quite generously copied out the full text by hand. But who was this Mr. Silver?

Stephen William Silver, a London businessman, was known for much of his career for the concern he owned and managed, the India Gutta-Percha and Telegraph Works Company. In a manner similar to many other captains of industry, he was also a member and supporter of a number of learned societies, among them the Royal Geographical Society, of which he was elected a Fellow in 1856. Along with Dr. Rae, he served on its board, and they were likely acquainted from that moment. Silver had a lifelong interest in exploration, though his main focus seems to have been Africa -- but, apparently, he was interested in the Arctic as well. But how did this letter end up in Australia? 

The answer lies in the person of a gentleman named Edward Petherick, who served as Silver's "bibliographical advisor." When Silver died in 1905, Petherick was concerned that the collection might be broken up, and seems to have written a friend in Adelaide about the possibility of the Public Library of New South Wales acquiring it; when that was politely declined, Petherick worked through friends and associates connected with the RGS, via which it was eventually acquired with the intent of passing it along to the RGSA. As the "York Gate Library" it was warmly received, eventually being housed in the State Library of South Australia, where it was opened with some fanfare in 1908.

And so, while this discovery doesn't tell us much new about Rae's open letter, it does say something about the man himself: that he would take the trouble, for a friend and colleague, to copy out his whole article again by hand, just for his solitary benefit.

[The author would like to acknowledge his reliance on Valmai Hankel's excellent article, "Not Silver but Gold: S.W. Silver and the York Gate Library" (2005), for details as to Silver's collection and its transfer to Australia.]