Shackleton's Last Voyage First Edition - Ernest Shackleton - Bauman Rare Books

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Shackleton's Last Voyage

Ernest SHACKLETON | Frank WILD

Item#: 112236 We're sorry, this item has been sold

Shackleton's Last Voyage

Shackleton's Last Voyage

"AS 'THE BOSS' WOULD HAVE WISHED": FIRST AMERICAN EDITION OF SHACKLETON'S LAST VOYAGE

(SHACKLETON, Ernest) WILD, Frank. Shackleton's Last Voyage: The Story of the Quest. New York: Frederick A. Stokes, [1923]. Thick octavo, original pictorial blue cloth.

First American edition of the narrative of Shackleton's final expedition, with color frontispiece, several maps, and over 135 black-and-white photographic illustrations, including some of the last photographs to have been taken of the great explorer.

The purpose of the Quest's voyage in 1921-22 was for Shackleton, who in 1908 approached within 100 miles of the South Pole, to map 2000 miles of the Antarctic coastline. Shackleton died suddenly of a heart attack aboard ship three months after departure from London. Though shaken by Shackleton's death, Captain Frank Wild "decided the expedition would continue as the 'The Boss' would have wished" (Conrad 230). His account contains "extracts from the diaries of Shackleton (who kept a diary from 24 to 28 September 1921, and from 1 to 4 January 1922)… personal, poignant remarks on Shackleton's 1914-1917 expedition" and a record of Shackleton's funeral by Dr. Hussey, a ship physician (Rosove 349). "Lady Shackleton," wrote Dr. Hussey, "was sure that Sir Ernest would have wished to be buried on South Georgia, the scene of his greatest exploit… In a blinding snow-storm we took the coffin ashore to the little wooden Lutheran church at Gritviken." Published the same year as the London first edition. Taurus 112. Ink owner signature; booklabel.

Text clean, light foxing to text block edges only; spine a bit dulled, pictorial front cover bright. An exceptionally nice 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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