The Ascent of Everest.

HUNT, John; Edmund Hillary.

Item Number: 112596

London: Hodder & Houghton, 1953.

First edition of this account of the 1953 British conquest of Everest. Octavo, original blue cloth, with eight color photographic plates, 48 half-tone plates and many in-text illustrations after pen-and-ink sketches. Signed on the title page by John Hunt, Edmund Hillary, George Lowe, Reinhold Messner, Chris Bonington, Thomas Hornbein, Dwayne Congdon, George Band, Laurie Skreslet, Michael Ward, Jim Whittaker, Krzysztof Wielicki, S. Wood, Junko Tabei, S. Vehables, Babu Chiri Sherpa, Rebecca Stephens and on the front endpaper by Wilfred Noyce. Presentation bookplate on the half-title from John Hunt. Near fine in a near fine price-clipped dust jacket. Jacket design by W. Heaton Cooper. Chapter 16 is Sir Edmund Hillary’s stirring account of the final part of the climb, and the appendices are by members of the expedition. Foreword by H.R.H. The Duke of Edinburgh. Rare and desirable signed by this legendary group of mountaineers.

The 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest was the eighth in 30 years to attempt Everest. On May 29th, 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay at last stood at the summit; it was a culminating moment in mountaineering history, and one of the great achievements of human stamina and will. The Ascent of Everest was written by Sir John Hunt, the leader of the expedition, in one month to satisfy the great demand around the world for the story of the British team’s success. Chapter 16 is Sir Edmund Hillary’s stirring account of the final part of the climb, and the appendices are by members of the expedition.