Chart of the North Polar Sea

This printed chart (no. 264) accompanied a parliamentary paper which included the instructions to Captain Sir John Franklin for the Arctic Expedition of 1845 and to any officer or officers appointed by the Admiralty on any expedition to search for him, and copy of extracts from any proceedings and correspondence in reference to any Arctic Expeditions from 1845.

Sir John Franklin's expedition to discover the North West Passage had not been heard from since July 1845, and by 1848 there was sufficient concern to begin sending out search expeditions. News that the ships and crew of the expedition had perished was finally received in 1854.