Fight for Everest: 1924 First Edition - E.F. Norton - Bauman Rare Books

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Fight for Everest: 1924

E.F. NORTON

Item#: 45819 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Fight for Everest: 1924

THE FIGHT FOR EVEREST, WITH ODELL’S FAMOUS ACCOUNT OF IRVING AND MALLORY’S ATTEMPT ON THE SUMMIT

NORTON, E.F. The Fight for Everest: 1924. New York: Longmans, Green, 1925. Large thick octavo, original blue cloth, uncut.

First American edition, published the same year as the London first, illustrated with a folding map and 32 plates, eight in color.

This mountaineering classic is the third of three works recounting the British Everest expeditions of 1921, 1922, and 1924. It includes contributions by many of the expedition members, including its leader E.F. Norton and General H.G. Bruce, who led the 1922 expedition. It was during this 1924 expedition that George Mallory and Andrew Irvine made their last, controversial attempt on the summit, only to disappear in a storm at 28,000 feet. Their attempt is documented in this volume by N.E. Odell, who from afar watched their progress towards the summit. “Odell’s vigil at 27,000 feet waiting for the return of his friends is one of the greatest episodes in mountaineering history” (Francis Farquar).

Plates bright and fine. Only minor rubbing to extremities of clean, fresh cloth. A near-fine copy.

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Aquatint Copperplate process by which the plate is “bitten” by exposure to acid. By changing the areas of the plate that are exposed and the length of time the plate is submerged in the acid bath, the engraver can obtain fine and varying shades of gray that closely resemble watercolor washes. Although the name contains the word “tint”, this is a black-and-white printing process; aquatint plates can often be hand colored, however.
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