Kon-Tiki: Six Men Cross the Pacific on a Raft.

HEYERDAHL, Thor.

Item Number: 16010

New York: Rand McNally & Company, 1950.

First American edition of the explorer’s classic first book. Octavo, original cloth, illustrated throughout, cartographic endpapers. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page in the year of publication, “To my dear friend Ben in full appreciation of the grand job you have done for this book, and in memory of all the pleasant moments we spent together in promoting it! With all best wishes from Thor Chicago 12/7 1950.” Near fine in a near fine jacket that shows some light rubbing to the extremities. Jacket illustration by Gordon Grant. Translated by F.H. Lyon.

On April 28, 1947, Heyerdahl and five other adventurers sailed from Peru on a raft built from balsa wood, bamboo, and hemp. After three months and 4,300 nautical miles on the open sea they sighted land—the Polynesian island of Puka Puka.The Kon-Tiki has been translated into sixty-five languages and has sold millions of copies. It is the basis for the 2012 Norwegian film directed by Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg, and was nominated for an Oscar and Golden Globe.