Arctic Spectacles: The Frozen North in Visual Culture, 1818-1875

by Russell A. Potter

This book lluminates the nineteenth-century fascination--in Britain and the U.S.--with visual representations of the Arctic, from fine art to panoramas, engravings, magic lantern slides, and photographs. Drawing from letters, diaries, cartoons, and sketches, as well as ephemera such as newspaper advertisements, playbills, and program booklets, Potter shows how representations of the Arctic expressed the fascination, dread, and wonder that the region inspired, and continues to inspire today.

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2007

About the author

I teach Victorian literature, the history of Arctic exploration, and early media at Rhode Island College. My first novel, Pyg: The Memoirs of a Learned Pig, has just been published by Penguin Books.