1. Secretary of State for External Affairs in Canada to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 19 December 1955, Box 81, Folder 23, Correspondence: Canada, 1955. Series 1, Correspondence, 1895-1962, Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College. Stefansson Collection [Mss-196]
This letter is from The Secretary of State for External Affairs in Canada to Stefansson, written on December 19, 1955. It demonstrates how the Canadian government will not support Stefansson on his creation of the Encyclopedia Arctica. They advise that he allocate his resources strictly to the United States as Canada claims they simply do not have the funds to support such a project for at least several years. The outlook for publication of the Encyclopedia looks even more grim.
2. Savoie Lottinvelle of Oklahoma University to Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Maxwell Dunbar of McGill University, 8 March 1956, Box 83 Folder: 20, Correspondence L, 1956. Series 1, Correspondence, 1895-1962, Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College. Stefansson Collection [Mss-196]
Shown above is a letter from Savoie Lottinville of the Oklahoma University Press to Professor Maxwell Dunbar of McGill University on March 8th, 1956, regarding the publication of studies from Stefansson’s Encyclopedia Arctica. The letter is the last in a series of correspondences between Dunbar, Lottinville, and Stefansson himself. It is clear from this correspondence that there is not enough funding for the completion of the project, and that perhaps pieces of it will have to be published individually.
3. Archie to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, 5 October 1957, Box 32 Folder E.A. 1957. Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College. Stefansson Collection [Mss-96] 
In this letter from 1957, Stefansson writes about a recent New York Times Endorsement of the Encyclopedia Arctica. He stresses how an influential newspaper is drawing attention to the importance of the Arctic region due to the current political climate, and seems to regain some hope that there will be renewed interest (and therefore funding) for the project to be completed.
4. Nicholas Polunin to Vilhjalmur Stefansson, March to August 1961, Box 32 Folder E.A. 1959. Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College.Stefansson Collection [Mss-96]
Unfortunately, no funding materialized. This collection of letters from March to August of 1959 is between Vilhjalmur Stefansson and Nicholas Polunin, a friend of Stefansson and a botanist who contributed to the Encyclopedia Arctica with his book Circumpolar Arctic Flora. The letters show the significance of Stefansson’s personal relationships and help build an understanding of his life and legacy, not only as a professional but also as a friend.
5. Vilhjalmur Stefansson to Cpt. Howard Chapelle, 9 July 1960, Box 91 Folder: 3, Correspondence S, 1960. Series 1, Correspondence, 1895-1962, Rauner Library Special Collections, Dartmouth College. Stefansson Collection [Mss-196]
By July of 1960, Stefansson has abandoned the idea of publishing the entire Encyclopedia as one work. In this letter to Cpt. Howard Chapelle, a curator at the Smithsonian Institution, about the potential relocation of some of the Stefansson Collection at Dartmouth. Stefansson addresses how the Navy has spent some $300,000 and five years on the publication of his collection, which has now been abandoned. The letter indicates that, as a result of these developments, the plan forward is to salvage any possible revenue from the project by selling pieces of the 20-volume collection.