A sketchbook kept by Midshipman George Back (1798-1878) who was a member of the Franklin Overland Expedition to explore the shores of the Arctic Ocean eastwards from the mouth of the Coppermine River in the period 1819-1822. The other Royal Navy officers on the expedition were Captain John Franklin, Midshipman Robert Hood, and surgeon-naturalist Dr. John Richardson. This sketchbook of 60 leaves includes maps as well as sketches covering the period from September 1819 to mid-1822. During this time, the expedition followed major routes of the fur trade into the continent, including journeys from York Factory to Cumberland House (9 Sept 1819 to 23 Oct 1819), from Cumberland House via Fort Carlton and Île-à-la-Crosse to Fort Chipewyan (18 Jan 1820 to 26 March 1820), and from Fort Chipewyan via Fort Resolution and Old Fort Providence to Fort Enterprise, the wintering site near the Coppermine River (19 July 1820 to 20 Aug 1820). This book also documents a brief scouting trip to Point Lake from Fort Enterprise (28 Aug 1820 to 10 Sept 1820), and Back's winter supply run to Fort Chipewyan and back (18 Oct 1820 to 16 March 1821). These journeys are not represented in chronological order in Back's cover-to-cover use of the sketchbook. The sketches contained in the sketchbook are largely watercolour, with a few drawings, while the maps are all pen and ink. There are a few blank pages in the sketchbook but the rest of it is largely filled with images or maps on both the recto and the verso. During this ill-fated expedition, during which eleven of the twenty party members died, Back distinguished himself by rescuing the survivors from near starvation; travelling ahead of the main group with Métis interpreter Pierre St. Germain, Back was able to make contact with the Dene led by Akaitcho and thereby secure food and supplies. Back was promoted to Lieutenant during the course of the expedition, on January 1, 1821. Captain Franklin chose 16 of Back's sketches from this and other sketchbooks kept during the 1819-1822 expedition for publication in his account, Narrative of a Journey to the shores of the Polar Sea in the years 1819, 20, 21 and 22 (London: John Murray, 1823).
