An extremely rare group of slides relating to the nineteenth-century search for Sir John Franklin's ill fated Arctic expedition of 1845.

 

The Dancer microphotograph is one of the more common examples found from his early output, giving an indication of the extent of the Victorian public's curiosity in the ongoing searches. The Stovin microphotograph is rare and importantly shows the Franklin document circa 1860, before restoration. The most interesting slides are the two diatom strews, both of which are extremely rare, one being from a dredging taken during Capt. William Penny's search on Lady Franklin, the first maritime search for the expedition, circa 1848, and the second from The Fox, led by Francis Leopoldo McClintock in 1857.

 

Another chapter in the story of Franklin's lost expedition was recently added, when one of Franklin's two ships, HMS Erebus, was finally located by a Canadian team off King William Island, in 2014.

 

 

The Arctic Council Discussing the Plan of Search for Sir John Franklin. Microphotograph by J.B.Dancer

 

The Franklin Record Found Near the North Pole. Microphotograph by John Stovin

 

Coscinodiscus Melville Bay 'The Fox' Franklin Searching Expedition. Diatom Strew

 

Diatomaceae North Lat 74deg. Capt Penny's Expedition. Diatom Strew.