Book, After Icebergs with a Painter: A Summer Voyage to Labrador and around Newfoundland

This object is not part of the Cooper Hewitt's permanent collection. It was able to spend time at the museum on loan from Smithsonian Libraries and Archives as part of After Icebergs.

Church and Noble embarked on their voyage on the steamship Merlin from Halifax, Nova Scotia, to St. John’s, Newfoundland in June 1859. In St. John’s, they chartered the schooner Integrity to take them to the icebergs, making observations and sailing among ice floes until late July.

Church planned to use his studies from the trip to create a monumental canvas. Noble observed Church at work and recorded their shared adventures in After Icebergs with a Painter. The book, published in 1861, coincided with the unveiling of Church’s painting The North (The Icebergs).

Publication of After Icebergs tapped into a growing market for stories and images of the far North. Polar exploration had begun earlier in the 19th century with Admiral Parry’s search for the northwest passage. Public interest grew in 1845, when British explorer Sir John Franklin and his entire expedition mysteriously disappeared in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

This object was previously on display as a part of the exhibition After Icebergs.