Entertainment during the Franklin Search

Theatre Royal. Melville Island. The committee of management, beg to inform their patrons, the Arctic public, that the Corps Dramatique being about to start on a tour through the provinces, their last performance this season will take place on board the H. M. S. Resolute, Captain Henry Kellett, C. B. On Tuesday the 1st of February 1853. The ladies of the establishment, having modestly represented the inconvenience of performing at a temperature of 30° minus, without nose and leg protectors, will in consequence of a further decrease to 80° below the freezing point, have recourse on the ensuing occasion to Bloomerism for which innovation they crave the indulgence of a considerate public. The characters in the popular and much admired farce, of Raising the Wind, will be assumed by the following ship's company ... after which several songs and glees ... to conclude with the laughable extravaganza of King Glumpus

[H.M.S. Resolute, in the ice at Melville Island, approx. 75° N., 115° W. Melville Island Press (i.e. printed on board the Resolute), 1853. Folio broadside measuring 18" x 10.5", printed in both wood and metal type in black ink on yellow paper, large royal vignette at top, smaller vignette of tambourine, harp, and bugle in laurel at the bottom, backed with linen; previous folds, otherwise very nice, in a green cloth folding chemise lettered in gilt on upper cover. The Resolute was one of four ships sent to the Arctic in 1852 to search for Franklin but was abandoned in the ice in 1854 on the orders of Belcher, the expedition's commander. The crew returned home on several of the expedition's ships, the North Star, the Phoenix, and the Talbot. The Resolute, which in Kellett's opinion was in no danger, eventually drifted into Davis Strait where it was discovered in 1855 by Captain Budington of the U.S. whaler, George Henry. It was later sent back to England. The National Maritime Museum notes that "The crew of Resolute revive Parry's theatrical traditions. All the parts in the plays were taken by men. Look out for George Nares (later to lead his own expedition) in an early role. 'The costumes of Miss Durable and Peggy in Raising the Wind were truly admirable, all the articles were manufactured on board from the stays of No. 8 canvas and laced with marline, to the black silk mantle and hood ... Miss Durable was perfection's self barring the ankles ... Peggy was also capital as far as ... appearance went; but alas! There was a certain swagger and rolling in her gait" (George F. McDougal, who played the part of Lord Lollypop, and who wrote his own account of the expedition). A typed note accompanying the broadside adds the following with regard to provenance: "From the collection of the late R. McCormick ... Chief Medical Officer of the North Star Expedition. A relic of Captain Kellett's Expedition in search of Franklin. The bill gives an early clue as to the authorship of King Glumpus, which was published in 1837, with Thackeray's illustrations, and has sometimes been attributed to him. It is here accredited to the son of Sir John Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty. The only known presentation of the play. Acquired from Henry Sayre Van Duzer Sale, thru Anderson Galleries, 2/6-7/22." OCLC locates on the copy at the National Library of Scotland. See, Van Duzer, A Thackeray Library, 109. Item #60958

Price: $15,000.00