Journal d'un Voyage aux Mers Polaires

The Arctic adventures, published in 1854, of an intrepid French naval officer who became a hero in Britain.

In 1851, French explorer Joseph René Bellot (1826–53) became a hero in Britain when he joined the Prince Albert in the search for Sir John Franklin's expedition. Bellot's narrative of the expedition captures his enthusiasm and anxieties. It was published in 1854, a year after his tragically premature death.The intrepid French explorer Joseph René Bellot (1826–53) became a symbol of Anglo-French friendship in 1851, when he took part in the second expedition of the Prince Albert in search of Sir John Franklin. During the seventeen-month expedition, Bellot wrote a journal which captures his enthusiasm for the discovery of unknown lands and the anxieties of a perilous journey. Together with Captain William Kennedy, Bellot found the northernmost point of the American continent and was named a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. His journal was published posthumously, together with a short account of his life, in 1854 by Julien Lemer, and reissued several times because of its scientific and literary interest. Bellot died tragically, aged twenty-seven, during his second polar expedition. His courage and devotion to a foreign cause earned him much admiration in Britain: an obelisk was raised in his honour outside the Greenwich Hospital for sailors.