Carleton’s polar exploration collection contains important editions of publications associated with the history of polar exploration. In 1965 the College received the nucleus of this collection when Dr. Arthur B. Hunt (Carleton Class of 1925) donated his large personal collection to the College. Noteworthy items from this initial donation include the 1907/1911 3 volume published version of the South Polar Times and the limited edition of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Heart of the Antarctic with a companion volume, The Antarctic Book, that includes the sixteen signatures of the members of the Shore Party of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-09.
In 1985 the collection expanded significantly when Jeffrey Strickler and Karen Stewart Strickler (Carleton College Class of 1965) donated the Arctic Book Collection of Jeffrey’s father, Jacob H. Strickler. Dr. Strickler’s collection included nearly 400 volumes, including first editions of publications by Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Fridtjof Nansen. In 2003, the collection was again the beneficiary of a generous donor and friend of the College, Mr. Charles Coskran, who donated his Antarctica collection, a collection that added, in addition to mint copies of late 20th century publications, important editions of early 20th century works by Roald Amundsen and Sir Robert Falcon Scott.