Click play below to open a holiday greeting from the Trustees and Staff of the Linda Hall Library of Science, Engineering, and Technology.

The image featured in this year’s card is “Manner of making a resting place on a winter’s night,” from John Franklin, Narrative of a Journey to the Shores of the Polar Sea, in the years 1819, 20, 21, and 22 (London, 1823).

JOHN FRANKLIN, a Captain in the Royal Navy, was sent by the British Admiralty in 1819 to undertake an overland journey from the western shore of Hudson Bay to the southern shores of the Polar Sea in search of a Northwest Passage. He was accompanied by the naturalist John Richardson; two young Midshipmen, including George Back, who was the expedition artist; and several boatmen and guides. On this winter’s night, March 15, 1820, the contingent was encamped in a spruce grove south of Lake Athabasca, on their way to the Coppermine River. The scene was captured in a sketch by Midshipman (later Lieut.) Back and engraved by Edward Finden.

The Library’s copy of Franklin’s Narrative was purchased from Bloomsday Books in Kansas City for the 2008 opening of our exhibition, Ice, a Victorian Romance. Click here to view the full work.

This year's holiday card was curated by William B. Ashworth, Jr., PhD, celebrating 45 years of service to the Linda Hall Library.