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Polaris is a real dog...Bartlett calls him the finest Eskimo dog in the world...his parents...reached the North Pole with Peary...the book about him is a real saga...no one who loves dogs can afford to miss this book. New York Herald, Dec. 17, 1922

Polaris was a puppy descended from members of the team that took Commander Peary to the North Pole. He adopted Mr. Baynes as soon as he was introduced to him. Mr. Baynes describes the rearing of Polaris, his friendships with Beowuli, a great Dane, and Heatherbloom, a Scottie, and his battles with predatory hounds of the vicinity. The story is natural: there is enough of interest, and enough of humor, in the lives, of men and animals to make the story interesting without artificial coloration. The reader who does not enjoy the account of Polaris pursuit of the rooster simply does not have a sense of humor.

As noted by the New England Historical Society, Ernest Harold Baynes (1868 - 1925) was the closest thing New England, and the world for that matter, will ever get to a real-life Dr. Doolittle. All sorts of New England birds and animals--foxes, wolves, chickadees, bears and bison--were known to roam around and in and out of his house, Sunset Ridge, in Meriden, N.H. A short stint as a reporter for the New York Times had sharpened his writing, and he was soon regularly contributing articles on nature and animals to magazines and newspapers in the 1890s. In 1922, Baynes published the present book, Polaris, the Story of an Eskimo Dog.

The book was well-received at the time of its publication:

This is a common sense, honest book about a dog. Mr. Baynes is a lover of animals; he has contributed extensively to the literature, his works including not only Wild Bird Guests and the present volume but many articles contributed to current periodicals. But in addition to a love of animal kind and an ability to present animal life realistically in his writings, he has a rationality that is not dominated by passion. It is an ideal gift book for physicians who are lovers of animals. Moreover, its author merits the sympathetic support of every scientist. -Journal of the American Medical Association

Captain Robert A. Bartlett, who sailed the Roosevelt for Peary and the Karluk for Stefansson writes:

In this book my friend Mr. Baynes has, with consummate skill, depicted truthfully and dramatically the life of his dog Polaris, a wonderful specimen of a breed little known except to those who have lived in the Arctic.

Two hundred and forty-seven dogs left the Roosevelt in the spring of 1909, and Polariss parents, Sipsu and Acutah, were two of the forty-five selected to drag the loaded sledges, under the worst possible ice conditions, on the final stretch of the long trip. They were both staunch, powerful dogs; I had worked with them for weeks and knew them well. And at length, on April 6, 1909, the indomitable Peary, with his faithful Eskimo dog drivers and Polariss forbears, placed Old Glory at the North Pole.

Very little has been written in song or story of this wolfish Ultima Thule breed of dogs, for only Admiral Peary has used them; and he saw mostly the unfriendly side, for with him it was Go! Go! Mr. Baynes has a knowledge and love of animals possessed by few. He watched Polaris grow up from a little puppy, and saw him in all his moods. He is, therefore, to my mind the very person to write this story.

I shall not forget the night of the Thorndike dinner. I had no idea of what was going to be pulled off, and just before I began telling my story, in bounded Polaris. He did look glorious. His long, snowy white hair looked as if he had come from a long trip over the trackless Arctic Sahara. His tongue was lolling, teeth snow white, gums red, ears erect, and tail coiled hard upon his back. These characteristics represent the A-one test of Arctic dog powers. Truly it made my blood tingle, and brought back joyfully the Great Days spent with my beloved and noble Peary.

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"Polaris is a real dog...Bartlett calls him the finest Eskimo dog in the world...his parents...reached the North Pole with Peary...the book about him is a real saga...no one who loves dogs can afford to miss this book." New York Herald, Dec. 17, 1922

Polaris was a puppy descended from members of the team that took Commander Peary to the North Pole. He adopted Mr. Baynes as soon as he was introduced to him. Mr. Baynes describes the rearing of Polaris, his friendships with Beowuli, a great Dane, and Heatherbloom, a "Scottie," and his battles with predatory hounds of the vicinity. The story is natural: there is enough of interest, and enough of humor, in the lives, of men and animals to make the story interesting without artificial coloration. The reader who does not enjoy the account of Polaris pursuit of the rooster simply does not have a sense of humor.

As noted by the New England Historical Society, Ernest Harold Baynes (1868 - 1925) was the "closest thing New England, and the world for that matter, will ever get to a real-life Dr. Doolittle. All sorts of New England birds and animals--foxes, wolves, chickadees, bears and bison--were known to roam around and in and out of his house, Sunset Ridge, in Meriden, N.H." A short stint as a reporter for the New York Times had sharpened his writing, and he was soon regularly contributing articles on nature and animals to magazines and newspapers in the 1890s. In 1922, Baynes published the present book, "Polaris, the Story of an Eskimo Dog."

The book was well-received at the time of its publication:

"This is a common sense, honest book about a dog. Mr. Baynes is a lover of animals; he has contributed extensively to the literature, his works including not only "Wild Bird Guests" and the present volume but many articles contributed to current periodicals. But in addition to a love of animal kind and an ability to present animal life realistically in his writings, he has a rationality that is not dominated by passion. It is an ideal gift book for physicians who are lovers of animals. Moreover, its author merits the sympathetic support of every scientist." -Journal of the American Medical Association

Captain Robert A. Bartlett, who sailed the Roosevelt for Peary and the Karluk for Stefansson writes:

"In this book my friend Mr. Baynes has, with consummate skill, depicted truthfully and dramatically the life of his dog Polaris, a wonderful specimen of a breed little known except to those who have lived in the Arctic.

"Two hundred and forty-seven dogs left the Roosevelt in the spring of 1909, and Polariss parents, Sipsu and Acutah, were two of the forty-five selected to drag the loaded sledges, under the worst possible ice conditions, on the final stretch of the long trip. They were both staunch, powerful dogs; I had worked with them for weeks and knew them well. And at length, on April 6, 1909, the indomitable Peary, with his faithful Eskimo dog drivers and Polariss forbears, placed "Old Glory" at the North Pole.

"Very little has been written in song or story of this wolfish Ultima Thule breed of dogs, for only Admiral Peary has used them; and he saw mostly the unfriendly side, for with him it was Go! Go! Mr. Baynes has a knowledge and love of animals possessed by few. He watched Polaris grow up from a little puppy, and saw him in all his moods. He is, therefore, to my mind the very person to write this story.

"I shall not forget the night of the Thorndike dinner. I had no idea of what was going to be pulled off, and just before I began telling my story, in bounded Polaris. He did look glorious. His long, snowy white hair looked as if he had come from a long trip over the trackless Arctic Sahara. His tongue was lolling, teeth snow white, gums red, ears erect, and tail coiled hard upon his back. These characteristics represent the A-one test of Arctic dog powers. Truly it made my blood tingle, and brought back joyfully the Great Days spent with my beloved and noble Peary.

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