There are two great pleasures about collecting
classic exploration narratives: the
sheer joy of owning a sensuous, antique
creation in paper and leather, and
a physical link to the past. To most
of us, however, the cost of many
of these great books is prohibitive
at best ... criminal at worst.
Back's Great Fish River Expedition
(1833-35) and Franklin's Journey to
the Shores of the Polar Sea (1819-1822)
are two books that would set you back
many thousands of dollars in their original
form. Even reproductions, such as
the renown Hurtig reprints of the
1970s cost more than $100 ... when you can flnd them!
One Nova Scotia-based company, however, has
an economical solution for the impoverished paddler:
Antiquarian Electronic Books. CD- Academia
offers a catalog of Arctic Discovery series,
and the blending of the old and
new technologies is a wonder to behold.
CD Academia puts these classic works
in the hands of cost-conscious canoeists
through a powerful software program
called Adobe Acrobat - a unique application
that works on either Mac or Windows
platforms. Acrobat, originally used
by the graphics industry to convert
multi-megabyte, multi-page images
and documents into much smaller kilobyte
electronic files, faithfully reproduces
original graphics, photos, and text
for viewing on-screen. It is now widely
used to distribute catalogues, documents, and
manuals etc., over the Internet,
but as a means of replicating rare
and exotic manuscripts and books,
such as the works of northern explorers
Franklin and Back, the power of Acrobat
truly shines.
CD-Academia has scanned the original books,
including maps and art, and reproduced them
on a CD. That means you can read
the book, page by page, in its original
typeface or a modern one. But it's much more than
a simple reproduction, thanks to
Acrobat. You can jump back and forth
between the text and the beautiful artwork
and maps thanks to the quality reproduction
(shown above).
You can switch between chapters and
search keywords with ease. Click
on any of the hundreds of sub-headings
of subjects on the old-style Contents
pages and you are instantly transported to
that reference. It's an incredible
way to obtain the information, without
the limits of a high price or, admittedly,
the joy of holding it in your hands.
We have looked at the Back River
in this Outfit of Che-Mun on a couple
of levels. A CD like this allows
you to put these various trips and stories
on this great river into a historical
context, to read about whom the Baillie
River is named after (yes, it is
George Baillie), and what Back and his
men went through on their descent
of the Great Fish in that frigid
summer of 1834. It will be a mandatory
purchase for all Back River paddlers.
Currently there are five CDs in the
series; Franklin's first two expeditions,
as well as two by Back, including
his lesser-known expedition in HMS
Terror in 1836-7, and Capt Lyon's journal
from the Hecla in the 1820s. Prices
range from $69.95 for the first Franklin
to $39.95 for Backs' two works. You
can contact CD- Academia at www.cd-books.com/.
