Estimate: | £1,000 - £1,500 |
Hammer price: | £1,600 |
CHERRY-GARRARD, Apsley George Benet (1886-1959). The Worst Journey in the World. Antarctic 1910-1913. London: Constable and Company Limited, 1922, 2 volumes, large 8vo (228 x 145mm). Half titles, 2 coloured frontispieces captioned "McMurdo Sound" and "A Halo Round the Moon" respectively, 57 plates, including 4 coloured and 10 large folding panoramas [one listed as a map], 4 maps, 3 of which folding (one folding map torn without loss, occasional spotting and staining). Original hessian-backed pale blue paper boards, printed labels laid down on spines, blue endpapers, uncut, with 2 duplicate spine labels tipped-onto the front free endpapers (2 duplicate copies of the coloured frontispiece "A Halo Round the Moon" laid down on each upper cover, spine labels chipped and creased, some very light staining). Provenance: M. F. Wallis (signatures on front free endpapers; see note). FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE of this account of Scott's ill-fated "Terra Nova Expedition" or "The British Antarctic Expedition" to the South Pole between the years 1910 and 1913 including an unflinching description of the sufferings and privations endured by its members. The signatures on the front free endpapers are those of Mary "Molly" Wallis (b. 1905), wife of Sir Barnes Wallis (1887-1979), inventor of "the bouncing bomb". Please note that plate counts vary for this work (some plates, if they contain 2 subjects, are counted twice in the list, which may lead to confusion): this copy collates fully complete, entirely in accordance with the list. Conrad 173: "A very literate, detailed account on the expedition ... one of the classics of Antarctic literature"; Fitzgerald 145; Spence 277; Taurus 84: "The best written and most enduring account of exploits in the Antarctic". RARE. (2)
Condition Report: Both frontispieces 'Atlalo Round the Mood' are glued to the covers.