Sir John Franklin was a renowned Arctic explorer during the first half of the nineteenth century, serving in the Royal Navy from 1800 until his untimely death in 1847. Franklin’s first expedition earned him a certain degree of fame in Britain, where he was known as the man who had eaten his boots out of hunger. In the next phase of his career, he commanded another overseas expedition as well as an overland exploration. When Franklin was forced out of his position as lieutenant governor of Van Diemen’s Land (today part of Australia), he returned to England with hope of redeeming his reputation.

It was in this context that he pressed for command of the Arctic expedition, although some thought he was too old for it. He was successful and sailed to Greenland before heading towards the Arctic. He was likely excited about this new adventure, but he may also have had a lot weighing on him when he wrote this letter to his friend John Richardson. In the letter, he described the sights he was seeing and other details about his trip.

This letter was carried back to Britain on the supply ship Barretto Junior. After Franklin went missing, Richardson added it to a scrapbook of documents related to his (unsuccessful) search for Franklin and his men. This scrapbook was owned by Richardson’s wife, son, and grandson, from whose estate it was acquired by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Professor Robert Johnson arranged for its purchase from Dawsons of Pall Mall in 1965. Since then, it has resided in the University Library.

Professor Johnson initially transcribed this letter for his book about Richardson, published in 1976, after which it remained in the Library’s collection and was not accessible to the public. In January of 2013, archivists conserved and presented it as part of the Rare Book and Manuscript Library’s exhibit “Names Swallowed by the Cold: Hidden Histories of Arctic Exploration.” At some point between Richardson's receipt of the letter and its arrival at the University of Illinois, the latter part(s) were lost or removed.