Everest 1933 First Edition - Hugh Ruttledge - Bauman Rare Books

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Everest 1933

Hugh RUTTLEDGE

Item#: 39149 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Everest 1933

RUTTLEDGE’S FIRST EVEREST EXPEDITION

RUTTLEDGE, Hugh. Everest 1933. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1934. Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket.

First edition of Ruttledge’s account of the 1933 Everest expedition, the first under his command, with three large folding maps and over 50 photographic plates.

The official account of the fourth expedition to Everest, led by Ruttledge and with a team that included Frank Smythe, Eric Shipton, Wyn Harris, and L.R. Wager. Harris and Wager made a summit attempt from the famous Camp VI, reaching 28,200 feet in attempting to determine whether the northeast ridge was capable of being climbed. During this climb, they came upon the ice-axe of either Mallory or Irvine, lost nine years before on their fateful climb. The ridge could not be climbed, and the two had to traverse the face instead. On the return to high camp, Wager struggled to the crest of the ridge and became the first man to look down the awesome east face of Everest. Owner signature.

Book near-fine, with light rubbing to extremities and only very light scattered marginal foxing. Scarce original dust jacket price clipped, with light wear to extremities and minor chipping to spine head repaired with tape; much nicer than often found. An excellent 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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