Arctic Fever: new exhibit finds 19th-century parallels to Trump’s Greenland obsession

The Large British Steamer Bulldog, the American Ship Nautilus, and Other Ships at Nuuk, 1860 (title translated by Richard Margolis) by Aalut Kangermiu (also known as Aron of Kangeq), from the first issue of the Kalaallit (Greenlandic) newspaper Atuagagdliutit, 1 January 1861. Photograph: Thomas Fisher rare book library

Shortly before the United States descended into civil war and senior administration officials made a forceful case to purchase Greenland for its natural resources, an American ship appeared in Nuuk’s harbour. Its arrival at Greenland’s largest outpost was newsworthy enough to merit a large picture in the local newspaper.

The clipping, published in 1861, comes from the pages of the Atuagagdliutt, a Kalaallisut-language weekly that was the first in the world to use colour illustrations.