Volume 8, 1955 - The Arctic Circle - Home

VOL. VlII NO.3THE ARCTIC CIRCULARA Preliminary Guide to the Arctic Blue Books and ParliamentaryPapers of the Nineteenth CenturybyAndrew TaylorThe Arctic Blue Books (more comprehensively describedas the Parliamentary Papers) have long been the basic source ofofficially recorded information concerning nineteenth centuryexploration of much of the Canadian Arctic. Scattered through thevoluminous tomes of parliamentary proceedings, they have neverbeen fully exploited by researchers. Lacking tables of contents inmost cases. and completely unindexed, the wealth of informationthey contain is extremely difficult to search with thoroughness.These Arctic Papers should be systematically examined and indexedto facilitate the use of their valuable contents, recorded atauch high coat, financially and physically.To varying degrees, reports of British arctic explorerswere incorporated into the Sessional Papers of the Houses ofParliament, to become inherent components of the ParliamentaryPapers. The contents of Sessional Fapers were not limited toarctic expeditions, but covered the entire gamut of Parliamentaryinterests and activities, and occasionally bulked more than ahundred volumes annually. "The papers of the nineteenth centurynumber Over fifty thousand, and in the bound sets, take up severalthousand volumes" (Ford and Ford, 1953, p. vii),l-•Only 47 papers in this period are known by the writer toconcern the Canadian Arctic. Certain subjects recorded in theseSessional Papers warranted broader dissemination outside Parliament.These were printed in larger numbers, and were separatelybound usually in deep ultramarine paper wrappers to become knownas Blue Books. These Blue Books tI ••• give information of newdiscoveries; they are the official records of society; they gatherfrom all quarters illustrations of the evils which Parliament isasked to remedy; they almost invariably refer to what is novel,1. Ford, P, and G. Ford. 1953. Select list of British ParliamentaryPapers ,1833-1899'. Oxford: Basil Blackwell, xxii" 165pp.