|Map Shewing The Discoveries made by British Officers in the
Arctic Regions from the Year 1818 to 1826 (1828). Copperplate
map, 36 x 44.4 cm., mounted on thick paper. From Sir John
Franklin's Narrative of a Second Expedition to the Shores of the
Polar Sea . . . (London, 1828).| The nineteenth century belonged
to the British in respect to exploration of today's Canadian
Arctic. After the Napoleonic Wars (1800-1815), the British Navy
dominated the seas, and until the Crimean War (1853-1856) its
ships were often available for nonmilitary objectives. As second
secretary of the Admiralty from 1804 to 1845, Sir John Barrow
was the government leader in sponsoring expeditions to solve the
puzzle of the Northwest Passage. The discoveries of this summary
map were the results of an expedition commanded by Sir James
Ross, and two each by Sir John Franklin and Sir William Edward
Parry. These men formed part of the group of English explorers
later called Barrows Boys. The map illustrates the increased
precision and scale o