Edwin Balch collection

The collection comprises of correspondence by Balch to William Speirs Bruce and Hugh Robert Mill.

Edwin Swift Balch was born in 1856 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of the distinguished lawyer Thomas Balch. He was educated in France and Germany and studied at Harvard University. Although qualified as a lawyer, Balch chose to travel around the world and became an authority on polar history and exploration. Between 1909 and 1910, Balch served as chairman of the Committee on South Polar Exploration. He was appointed president of the Philadelphia Geographical Society and was a fellow of the American Geographical Society. He died in 1927.

Published work, The North Pole and Bradley Land by Edwin Swift Balch, Campion and Co. Philadelphia (1913) (3)91(08)[1907-1909] and Antarctica by Edwin Swift Balch, Allen, Lane & Scott, Philadelphia (1902) SPRI Library Shelf (7)91(091)[1902]

The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by recipient

By appointment.

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The term holograph is used when the item is wholly in the handwriting of the author. The term autograph is used when the author has signed the item.

Descriptions compiled by N. Boneham, Assistant Archivist with assistance from R. Stancombe and reference to Robert Keith Headland Antarctic Chronology, unpublished corrected revision of Chronological list of Antarctic expeditions and related historical events, (1 December 2001) Cambridge University Press (1989) ISBN 0521309034 and The Balch Institute and The Frederick J Cook Society and Slovensko

Clive Holland Manuscripts in the Scott Polar Research Institute, Cambridge, England - a catalogue, Garland Publishing New York and London (1982) ISBN 0824093941.

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