After his return, Franklin remarried, this time to Jane Griffin, a friend of his first wife. They had two decades together, occasionally interrupted by his long trips. In 1845, Franklin set off on his final voyage. He was not to be seen again. Once it became clear that his expedition was not returning, Lady Franklin funded several rescue missions. She sponsored four missions between 1850 and 1857, and the rewards offered for finding him encouraged many others to search. It would take 15 years and the finding of relics from Franklin's expedition for her to finally accept his fate. Item 41 is Portrait of Jane. A Life of Lady Franklin, by Frances J. Woodward, published in 1951. $150 (US $124).

It is doubtful that many people enjoy vaccinations, but most of us accept them as a necessary evil. This was not always so. The Anti-Vaccination League was formed in Britain in the 1860s, and it soon spread around the world. A whole host of reasons were given for opposing compulsory vaccination, from personal and religious freedom, to claims that vaccines did not work, were unsanitary, or were actually counterproductive, creating more illnesses than they cured. Apparently, the Anti-Vaccination League is long gone, though there are still people who oppose compulsory vaccination for both medical and religious reasons. However, in all fairness, it should be pointed out that the Anti-Vaccination League's main target was the vaccine for smallpox, which has wiped out this killer whose victims once numbered in the millions annually. Without compulsory smallpox vaccination, this could not have happened. Item 97 is a photograph from Vancouver, circa the 1920s, showing 75 men, women, and children under the banner Join the Anti-Vaccination League. Medical Freedom on the Same Basis as Religious Freedom. $150 (US $124).

Bjarne Tokerud Bookseller may be reached at 250-381-2230 or bjarnetokerud@shaw.ca.