A book from HMS Erebus

It has the honor of being the first book -- well, at least the first book cover -- retrieved from the wrecks of Sir John Franklin's ships. And yet, though fascinating, it raises many more questions that it answers.

Let's start with the title -- although the reconstructed black-and-white image shows it as "Stoddard's Preparatory Latin Book," this is almost certainly an error -- the corresponding book was Stoddart's with a "t." To add to the confusion, there actually was a Stoddard with a "d" who compiled a Latin grammar, on which was based a popular American textbook, A Grammar of the Latin Language, for the Use of Schools and Colleges, which was already in its tenth edition by 1845; copies of it can readily be found at used booksellers. I was able to purchase one for a mere five dollars from a dealer in Maine.

Stoddart's in contrast, was brand-new. Compiled by George Henry Stoddart, a fellow at Queen's College, Oxford, it tried a new method: by focusing on those particular Latin words which had close English analogues, it was hoped that young learners would thereby more speedily master the language. 

Though well-reviewed (see the notice opposite from The Spectator), Stoddart's does not seem to have met with the same broad acceptance as had Stoddard's -- though there were two later printings, few copies seem to have survived; it's not to be found in rare booksellers' catalogues, and the only known copy of the 1845 edition is the one at the British Library, which was probably the copyright deposit. 

So whose was it? It's hard to say; while shipboard schools were a known feature of many Arctic expeditions, and we know that Franklin's ships were supplied with slates and sketchbooks, these were all meant for instruction in English. The physical dimensions of the book, at least, tell us that it was -- like many books brought north -- a small one; the British Library describes it as 12mo (duodecimo, somewhat smaller than a modern mass-market paperback), while trade advertisements state that it was 18mo -- octodecimo, smaller still; the Parks Canada website doesn't give exact dimensions. It was found in or near the Captain's Steward's pantry, which might associate it with Edmund Hoar, Franklin's steward; among other items recovered from that vicinity was a pencil case, perhaps for pencils to use in lessons. But why would Hoar want to learn Latin? And why, if he did, would he have purchased a brand-new book rather than one of the many more common primers? The small size may have recommended it to him, perhaps, or its use of English analogues. Its price was 2 shillings sixpence, a modest one when larger books tended to go for 8 shillings or more; perhaps Hoar, flush with his "river pay," decided to purchase it on a lark. 

We may never be able to know for sure.