Journal d'un Voyage aux Mers Polaires

The intrepid French explorer Joseph Ren Bellot (182653) became a symbol of Anglo-French friendship in 1851 when he took part in the second expedition of the Prince Albert in search of Sir John Franklin. During the seventeen-month expedition Bellot wrote a journal which captures his enthusiasm for the discovery of unknown lands and the anxieties of a perilous journey. Together with Captain William Kennedy Bellot found the northernmost point of the American continent and was named a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. His journal was published posthumously together with a short account of his life in 1854 by Julien Lemer and reissued several times because of its scientific and literary interest. Bellot died tragically aged twenty-seven during his second polar expedition. His courage and devotion to a foreign cause earned him much admiration in Britain: an obelisk was raised in his honour outside the Greenwich Hospital for sailors.