BYRD'S ALONE, SCARCE SIGNED LIMITED FIRST EDITION

BYRD, Richard E. Alone. Decorations by Richard E. Harrison. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1938. Octavo, original full blue morocco gilt, marbled endpapers, uncut and unopened. $1400.

Signed limited first edition of Byrd's account of his second expedition to Antarctica, number 71 of only 225 finely bound copies signed by him, a splendid copy in full gilt-stamped morocco.

Admiral Byrd here chronicles his second expedition to Antarctica, undertaken in October 1933 with a team of 56 men. "His goals were additional geographical exploration and the study of meteorological conditions in winter. When sufficient supplies were not stockpiled before the onset of winter, he decided to remain at the advance base alone to conduct the meteorological observations." That winter Byrd nearly perished from "carbon monoxide poisoning leaking from the stovepipe, but was rescued by members of a meteorite observation team who set out when Byrd's messages became erratic and confused after five months in isolation… The ordeal had a lasting effect on Byrd. His book Alone is a record of his experience" (ANB). Without publisher's slipcase. Taurus 120. Conrad, 291. Fitzgerald 122.

A fine copy.