The North Pole.

PEARY, Robert E. Introduction by Theodore Roosevelt.

Item Number: 125090

London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1910.

Deluxe signed limited edition of Peary’s illustrated account of his journey to the North Pole, number 4 of only 500 copies signed by Peary and Captain R. A. Bartlett. Thick quarto, publisher’s original full vellum decorated in gilt, top edge gilt, illustrated with a large folding map printed in color, four black-and-white mounted photogravures and 112 tipped-in photographic plates. Introduction by Theodore Roosevelt. In very good condition.

This dramatic account includes the preparations, organization, and the march to the Pole. "According to Peary, they reached the Pole on April 6 and remained there 30 hours to verify their position. They reached land again at Cape Columbia on the 23rd, and two days later arrived at the ship… Immediately after Peary's arrival, the Cook/Peary controversy broke out as a result of Cook's almost simultaneous announcement that he had reached the Pole one year earlier. Eventually, Cook's claim was rejected as fraudulent by most commentators, and Peary's priority was widely acknowledged. However, Peary's claim, too, has frequently been questioned, and controversy continues even now… The National Geographic Society commissioned a new examination of Peary's route by the Navigation Foundation, of Maryland, which reported in Peary's favor" (Holland, 475).