Annapurna: The First 8,000 Metre Peak (26,493 Feet).

HERZOG, Maurice.

Item Number: 142396

London: Jonathan Cape, 1952.

First edition in English, preceding the American edition by one year. Octavo, bound in full morocco by the Harcourt Bindery, gilt titles and ruling to the spine, raised bands, gilt ruled to the front and rear panels, inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In fine condition. Translated from the French by Nea Morin and Janet Adam Smith. With an introduction by Eric Shipton. An exceptional presentation.

In 1950, when no mountain taller than 8,000 meters had ever been climbed, Maurice Herzog led an expedition of French climbers to the summit of an 8,075-meter (26,493-foot) Himalayan peak called Annapurna. But unlike other climbs, the routes up Annapurna had never been charted. Herzog and his team had to locate the mountain using crude maps, pick out a single untried route, and go for the summit. Annapurna is the unforgettable account of this heroic climb and of its harrowing aftermath, including a nightmare descent of frostbite, snow blindness, and near death. Herzog’s masterful narrative is one of the great mountain-adventure stories of all time. “Those who have never seen the Himalayas, those who never care to risk an assault, will know when they finish this book that they have been a companion of greatness" (New York Times Book Review). Named by National Geographic's as one of the 100 Greatest Adventure books of the 20th century.