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Shackleton, Ernest.
The first printing of the stirring account of the voyage of Endurance. South The Story of Shackleton's Expedition 1914-1917.
Publisher: William Heinemann, London;
Date of Publication: 1919
Stock Code: 15079
First edition, first printing. Octavo, pp., xxi, [1] blank verso, 375, [1] blank verso, plus full-colour paper-guarded frontispiece, 5 maps (1 folding), 87 half-tone photographic plates (1 double-page), 2 sketch plans within text, and errata slip to p. 1, all as called for. Lacking one (of two) front free endpapers. Publisher’s original dark blue cloth, titled in silver to spine and upper cover, large silver vignette of Endurance stuck in the ice to upper cover; top edge dyed blue. Minor shelf-wear to extremities, but corners rather sharp, the binding strong and text-block firm. The silver titling and vignette are bright and crisp. A bright copy. The first edition of Shackleton’s account of the imperial trans-Antarctic expedition of 1914-17, which has produced one of the most evocative stories of the Heroic age of Polar Exploration. Shackleton’s expedition was the first to attempt to cross the Antarctic continent, which he resolved to undertake by ship. Endurance, before even arriving at the Antarctic continent, became trapped in ice in the Weddell Sea which placed the crew of the expedition in precarious and gruelling conditions. Shackleton’s account of survival and eventual triumph is a powerful narrative in the history of Polar Exploration, and one which has gone on to enjoy enduring prominence in the popular imagination. The 88 photographs in this edition are reproduced from crewman Frank Hurley’s glass-plate negatives. The survival of those negatives is remarkable, and their finely shot depictions of Endurance stranded in the ice are now iconic. This first printing was produced at the tail end of the First World War, on war-economy paper. Copies in this condition are scarce. £2250.00