Richard Collinson’s Enterprise (1850-1855)

Collinson’s Enterprise was much less of a printing entertainment hot spot than Austin’s ship, with only six surviving playbills. They were less daring than their counterparts, making use of the single font that was given to them by the Admiralty instead of utilizing woodblock carvings to create new fonts. Interestingly, however, the printer on Collinson’s expedition was Henry Hester: the coxswain. Even more interestingly, Hester managed to print and produce a 40-page almanac on board the ship (Polar Almanac for 1854), which was one of the longest works printed on any of the search ships (Hoag 94). There are currently five known surviving copies of the Almanac, printed on brightly colored paper supplied for balloon messages.