1934 ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED HANDWRITTEN BY A MEMBER OF THE FAMED BOWDOIN MACMILLAN ARCTIC EXPEDITION ON A SCIENTIFIC JOURNEY TO THE WILDS OF LABRADOR NEWFOUNDLAND

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On offer is a very interesting 1934 manuscript relic of scientific and arctic exploration being a handwritten letter dated July 7, 1934 after their arrival in Nain, Labrador in New foundland written by S. Braley Gray Jr. and sent to a family member in Old Town, Maine. The letterhead reads in bold lettering "BOWDOIN - MACMILLAN Artic Expedition" along with Donald B. Macmillan and the names of the rest of the crew, which includes the author of this letter S. Braley Gray Jr. The Bowdoin - Macmillan Artic Expedition of 1934 was for the purpose of studying and collecting birds and plants on the coast of Labrador and the Button Islands. The famous Artic explorer Commander Donald B. Macmillan and 7 Bowdoin alumni, along with Dr. David Potter (a professor of botany at Clark University) and 2 of his students set sail from Portland, Maine on the 88' schooner the "Bowdoin" on June 16, 1934. The letter opens with talks of him (S. Braley Gray Jr.) being "bothered" by writing a letter that won't be read for weeks" and then states "I might as well start with where I left off to them - and it's Eider Ducks now - never saw so many in my life - swarms of 'em as we entered Hopedale through a maze of volcanic - that is thousands of years ago - islands". He later states that "Hopedale is about the best looking of the Eskimo villages". The letter goes on to "An Eskimo took us about 15 miles to some island - where we shot some eiders & collected eggs for the scientists and the Bowdoin College Artic Museum". He also makes reference to the schooner Bowdoin in a gale storm from the east "the wind kept flipping them out of our hands - and evertime we bent over a wave would wash up our back under the oil skin coat". The letter closes with "the anchor has just gone over - so if I want to mail this 'twill have to be terminated" and signed "Love, Braley". The letter measures 11'' x 8 1/4'' and is overall VG.; Manuscript; 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall; KEYWORDS: HISTORY OF, BOWDOIN - MACMILLAN ARTIC EXPEDITION, S. BRALEY GRAY JR., BOWDOIN COLLEGE, NAIN, NEWFOUNDLAND, LABRADOR, EIDER DUCKS, HOPEDALE, ESKIMO, ESKIMOES, CANADIANA, EXPLORATION, BOWDOIN COLLEGE ARTIC MUSEUM, OLD TOWN, MAINE, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, DIARY, JOURNAL, LOG, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, DIARIES, JOURNALS, LOGS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY, antiquité, contrat, vélin, document, manuscrit, papier Antike, Brief, Pergament, Dokument, Manuskript, Papier oggetto d'antiquariato, atto, velina, documento, manoscritto, carta antigüedad, hecho, vitela, documento, manuscrito, Papel, Show more