Liz Walsh went to the British Library in London on 29 October to review correspondence sent to John Barrow junior by members of the Franklin search expeditions.
The son of Sir John Barrow and Keeper of the Records for the British Admiralty, the younger Barrow exchanged letters with several of the officers and sailors involved in the search for Franklin. Fascinated with the Arctic, he asked several of these men to bring back animal specimens and objects of Inuit material culture. The Inuit objects were later donated by Barrow to the British Museum, where they have remained until the present. Liz is working to identify specific objects mentioned in the correspondence among the items in the British Museum collection, and connecting this with the themes of the Arctic Cultures project.
Image: View of Piazza, British Library, London. Photograph by E.A. Walsh, 29 October 2022.
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