Publishing on Ice

Abstract

This article examines a particular shipboard newspaper situated within the centuries- long hunt for the Northwest Passage. The newspaper existed in both an original handwritten form produced on a ship in the Arctic and as a printed edition in London. An examination of the newspaper in both versions suggests the ways in which the same text can be transformed by variations on its physical form, its readers, and its temporal situation. This study shows the ways that a focus on print culture and books as objects can be used to interpret primary historical sources, revealing the value of dealing with primary sources in a personal way.