Scott’s Last Expedition.
"Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman": First edition of Scott's Last Expedition
Scott’s Last Expedition.
SCOTT, Robert Falcon.
$2,000.00
Item Number: 129351
London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1913.
First edition of Scott’s diaries from his ill-fated expedition to the South Pole. Quarto, two volumes, original publisher’s cloth with gilt titles to spine and front panel, tissue-guarded frontispiece to each volume, illustrated with 18 color plates, eight folding maps (one color), and over 250 other illustrations and folding panoramas. In very good condition. A bright example.
"This is the place to begin for this expedition. Read this first, then supplement, compare and decide" (Conrad, 188). Setting out on November 1, 1911, Scott sought to be the first to reach the South Pole, after Shackleton's near miss. After suffering a series of early misfortunes, his party finally reached the pole on January 18, 1912, only to find a note from Roald Amundsen informing Scott that he had attained it one month earlier. The return party suffered numerous losses. A blizzard prevented them from furthering the little progress they made in February and March; their bodies and Scott's three notebooks were discovered eight months later. When news of Scott's fate first reached the world's ears, "the achievement and heroic end aroused world-wide admiration" (DNB).
