Detail from a map of the First Scottish Spitzbergen Expedition,
1919 [NLS reference: Acc.12559/22-25]. View zoomable map
Travelling with William Speirs Bruce on behalf of the Scottish Spitsbergen Syndicate, James Mann Wordie spent the summer of 1919 prospecting for oil in Stor Fjord.
Wordie's notebooks about his findings on the First Scottish Spitzbergen Expedition are typical — working from rough field notes, through a fair copy to a polished report or scientific article.
In 1921 Wordie turned down the chance to travel with Ernest Shackleton again, joining instead an expedition to Jan Mayen Island.
Led by Cambridge University, the expedition gave him the chance to study the geology of this volcanic island in the Arctic Ocean.
It also put Wordie in the group that made the first ascent of the island's main peak, Mount Beerenberg.