Entry describing The Heart of the Antractic from

ANTARCTICA, 1772-1922; FREESTANDING

PUBLICATIONS THROUGH 1999

by Michael H. Rosove. (Santa Monica, California: Adélie Books, 2001)

ISBN 0-9705386-0-X.

Used here by kind permission of the author.

305. Shackleton, Ernest H. [Ernest Henry Shackleton] (1874-1922) The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909.

1st (William Heinemann) edition, 3-volume deluxe issue, with “The Antarctic Book”.

305.A1. With the 1st (uncorrected) state of “The Antarctic Book”. London: William Heinemann, 1909. Printed by Ballantyne & Co., London. 3 vols. 27.8 cm, vols. I and II bound in full vellum, each with a brown ribbon book mark, and The Antarctic Book bound in quarter vellum, with gray papered boards, spines lettered in gilt, front covers of vols. I and II with small, embossed, gilt figures of two penguins, top edges gilt, others uncut, slipcase [brown-papered cardboard with two scallops at top and bottom for finger holds]. 8° [vol. I: b on p. v, A on p. 1; vol. II: b on p. v, A on p. 1], 4° [The Antarctic Book: b on p. 9]. Vol. I: pp. xlviii [limitation on p. ii], 372; 112 plate leaves [including sepia photographic frontispiece; 153 illustrations in all, including 6 color plates mounted on thick, dark brown paper, after paintings of George Marston, 3 double-page, black and white plates containing 16 portraits and 2 panoramas, and 102 single page plates printed on one side containing 128 black and white photographs], plus 11 diagrams in text, tissue paper guards over the frontispiece and the color plates bearing titles in brown ink. Vol. II: pp. xvi, 419, (1); 102 plate leaves [including sepia photographic frontispiece; 151 illustrations in all, including 6 color plates mounted on thick, dark brown paper, after paintings of George Marston, 1 double-page, black and white plate containing a black and white sketch panorama by Marston, and 94 single page plates printed on one side containing 143 black and white photographs and illustrations], plus 38 diagrams in text, 1 folding page depicting two panoramas, 3 folding maps in rear pocket, tissue paper guards over the frontispiece and the color plates bearing titles in brown ink. The Antarctic Book: pp. (2), 3-54, 1, (1); double-page bearing the signatures [smoother, slightly darker paper with cut edges, with the center fold headed on each adjacent page by a pictorial representation of Mt. Erebus overlaid with “The British Antarctic Expedition 1907 1909”, bearing 16 signatures (15 members of the shore party plus Mackintosh)], 10 plates [10 drawings, including 4 color portraits of the members of the southern party, each mounted on thick, dark gray-grown paper, plus 6 plates after woodcuts by Marston]. —— Rare. The 1st state differs from the 2nd state on pp. 7 and 22-26 thus: (7) contents list includes “Aurora Australis: / A Poem by E. H. Shackleton” on p. 25; (22) text of poem “Erebus” continues to “perilous places.”; (23) “Aurora Australis” poem fly-title; (24) blank; (25) “Aurora Australis” poem, “They, weary, wayworn . . . glamour that is thine.”, and signature mark “d”; (26) blank. The Antarctic Book does not bear a copy number; only vol. I does. Copies: SPRI (copy #99), 1 (copy #74), 16 (copy #120), 40 (copy #90).[1]

305.A2. With the 2nd (corrected) state of “The Antarctic Book”. London: William Heinemann, 1909. Printed by Ballantyne & Co., London. 3 vols. Same binding, paper, formatting, and collation, except for The Antarctic Book. The pagination for p. 7 and pp. 22-26 is as follows: (7) contents [without reference to “Aurora Australis: A Poem by E. H. Shackleton”]; (22) text of poem “Erebus” continues to “dour lay unrolled,”; (23) “Erebus” completed, “With icefield . . . glamour that is thine.”; (24) blank; (25) red-brown stamped sign of the penguins, and no signature mark “d”; (26) blank. —— Spence 1096, Renard 1444, 1445 (vols. I and II in trial binding: spines with green morocco title labels, and front covers without the gilt sign of the penguins; state unknown), Meadows 318, Conrad p. 148. 300 numbered sets (including both states of The Antarctic Book). Scarce. Original cardboard slipcase rare. Still being advertised by the publisher at £10 10s. [£10.50] in 1912,[2] 1915,[3] and 1916.[4] The four corrected leaves are cancels. Copies: Dart (copy #47), MC (copy #181), SPRI (copy #171), 1 (copy #84), 3 (copy #35, owner’s inscription, 29 November 1909), 4 (copy #37), 7 (copy #2), 12 (copy #243, in original slipcase), 14 (copy #66), 39 (copy #29), 43 (copy #222, inscribed by Shackleton, July 1914).

Detailed contents:

Shackleton, Ernest H. “Preface.” vol. I, pp. vii-xi.

Mill, Hugh Robert. “Introduction. South Polar Exploration in the Last Hundred Years.” vol. I, pp. xiii-xxxviii.

Shackleton, Ernest H. [General narrative.] vol. I, pp. 1-372; vol. II, pp. 1-72, 223-32.

David, T. W. Edgeworth. “Professor David’s Narrative [of the Northern Party].” vol. II, pp. 73-222.

Murray, James. “Biology.” vol. II, pp. 233-67. —— Denucé 1013.

David, T. W. Edgeworth, and Raymond E. Priestley. “Geological Observations in Antarctica by the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909.” vol. II, pp. 268-314. —— Denucé 303, 304, 305.

Priestley, Raymond E. “Scientific Results of the Western Journey.” vol. II, pp. 315-33. —— Denucé 301, 302, 434, AB‑USN 13.38, 13.39.

Mawson, Douglas [with James Murray]. “Notes on Physics, Chemistry and Minerology.” vol. II, pp. 334-75. —Denucé 115, 167, 205, 435, 739, 954, AB‑USN 8.107, 9.42, 13.36, 16.32.

David, T. W. Edgeworth, and Lt. Adams [with James Murray]. “Meteorology.” vol. II, pp. 376-96. —— Denucé 951, 952, 953, AB‑USN 16.129, 16.141.

Marshall, Eric. “Report on the Health of the Expedition.” pp. 397-99. Denucé —— 1414.

“Southern Journey Distances.” pp. 400-404.

“Consumption of Stores at Winter Quarters.” pp. 405-6.

“The Nimrod’s Homeward Voyage—In Search of Doubtful Islands.” pp. 407-13.

“Estimated Cost of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907 up to August 1909.” p. 414.

1st (William Heinemann) edition, 2-volume trade issue.

305.B1. London: William Heinemann, [4 November[5]] 1909. Printed by Ballantyne & Co., London. 2 vols. 25.3 cm, dark blue cloth, spines lettered in gilt, front boards with silver lettering on spines and embossed, silver portrait of the Farthest South, top edges gilt, others uncut, dust-wrappers [printed blue on off-white paper, with price]. Collation similar to deluxe edition for vols. I and II, with an errata slip for vol. II facing p. 1. —— Denucé 2620, AB‑USN 23-59.21, Spence 1097, Renard 1446, Meadows 317, Conrad p. 148. Common. Price 36s. [£1.80].[6] Dust-wrappers very scarce. The trade edition differs in the lack of The Antarctic Book, the binding, omission of ribbon bookmarks, shorter paper, use of a somewhat lesser but still excellent paper grade, the name of the publisher in black rather than brown ink, a different imprint, a different verso of the title leaves (“All rights reserved” in the deluxe edition; “Copyright 1909, London, William Heinemann, and Washington, U.S.A., by J. B. Lippincott Company.” in the trade edition), the frontispieces and color plates having been printed on white glossy paper rather than mounted on thick, brown paper, and the presence of an errata slip in vol. II that contains 6 corrections (of which the last 3 have been made already in both this and the deluxe edition). Both editions were produced from the same typeset.

a. With the errata slip. —— Copies: 1, 5, 7 (dust-wrappers), 12 (dust-wrappers).

b. Without the errata slip. —— Copies: Dart (inscribed, Shackleton to the Duke of Westminster, November 1909).

Dust-wrapper 1. Printed black on brownish-gray paper without indication of price. [triple rule] / The / Heart / of the / Antarctic / [space] / E. H. / Shackleton / C.V.O. / [space] / vol. I. [II.] / [space] / Heinemann / [triple rule]. —— Copies: 7, 14.

Dust-wrapper 2. Printed black on brownish-gray paper, and same, with “Price in Great / Britain and Ireland / 36/- net” between “vol. I. [II.].” and “Heinemann”. —— Copies: 7.

J. B. Lippincott 2-volume edition (under the same title).

305.C1. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, November 1909. Printed in the United States of America. 2 vols. 25.7 cm, blue cloth, spines and front boards with silver lettering and decorations, top edges gilt, dust-wrappers [light brown paper, lettered and illustrated in brown lettering on front]. Vol. I: pp. (2), liii, (1), 366, (2); 78 plate leaves [includes frontispiece, 6 in color]. Vol. II: pp. xvi, 451, (1); 69 plate leaves [includes frontispiece, 6 in color], numerous illustrations in text, 3 folding maps and panorama in rear pocket. —— Spence 1098, Renard 1447, Conrad p. 148. Reset, with differences in collation compared to the Heinemann edition. Price $10. Still being advertised by the publisher at $10 in 1915.[7]

a. With the decorations. —— Renard 1447. Copies: 4, 7, 12 (dust-wrappers).

b. Without the decorations. —— Renard 1448.

1st 1-volume abridged popular edition (under the same title).

305.D1. 1st William Heinemann impression. London: Wm. Heinemann, 4 November 1910. Popular edition. 19.6 cm, dark blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, front cover decorated in gilt, gilt lettering on spine, rear cover with blind stamped publisher’s colophon, top edge gilt. 8°. pp. xv, (1), 368; 52 plate leaves [4 color], folding map, 4 sketches in text. —— Spence 1101, Renard 1449. With a preface to this “Second Edition” by Shackleton. Omitting Hugh Robert Mill’s historical introduction, abridging David’s narrative of the Northern Party, and omitting the appendices except Murray’s notes on penguins and Shackleton’s southern journey distances. Copies: MC (2 copies), SPRI, 3.

305.D2. 2nd William Heinemann impression. London: Wm. Heinemann, November 1910. Printed by Ballantyne & Company, London. 19.7 cm, blackish violet cloth, spine lettered in gilt, front cover decorated in gilt, rear cover blind stamped with publisher’s colophon at lower right, top edge gilt, bottom edge uncut. Similar formatting and collation. —— Copies: UCI.

305.D3. Musson Book Company issue. Toronto: The Musson Book Company, no date [ca. 1910[8]]. Printed by Ballantyne & Company, London. 19.7 cm, blackish violet-blue cloth, spine lettered in gilt, front cover decorated in gilt, top edge gilt, bottom edge uncut, tissue paper guard over the frontispiece. Similar formatting and collation. —— Copies: CSUSD, SPRI.

305.D4. 3rd William Heinemann impression. London: William Heinemann, April 1911. Printed by Ballantyne & Company, London. 19.3 cm, turquoise cloth, spine lettered in dark blue, dust-wrapper. Similar formatting and collation. —— Spence 1103, Renard 1450. Copies: SPRI, UCLA, 22.

305.D5. J. B. Lippincott issue. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, and London: William Heinemann, 1914. Printed by Ballantyne & Company, London. 18.9 cm, cloth. Similar formatting and collation. —— Spence 1105. Price $1.50 in 1915.[9]

a. Blue cloth, spine lettered in silver, front cover lettered and decorated in silver. —— Renard 1451. Copies: Dart, UCoB.

b. Orange cloth, spine lettered in black. —— Renard 1452. Presumably a secondary binding. Copies: 1, 12, 32, 47.

“Hero Readers” 1-volume abridged edition (under a new title). Shackleton in the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909.

305.E1. 1st William Heinemann issue. London: William Heinemann, 1911. 18.9 cm, red cloth, spine lettered in black, front cover lettered and decorated with outer double rectangular border in black, rear cover with publisher’s colophon in black. 8°. pp. x, 11-255, 1; frontispiece, plus 51 illustrations [48 photographs, 2 sketches, 1 map] in text. —— AB‑USN 23-59.54, Spence 1102, Renard 1455. Price 1s.6d. [£0.075].[10] Juvenile edition, considered by the publisher a “great success”.[11] Copies: OPL, SPRI.

305.E2. McClelland and Goodchild issue. Toronto: McClelland and Goodchild, 1911. Similar binding and collation. —— Renard 1456.

305.E3. 2nd William Heinemann issue. London: William Heinemann, 1923.[12]

Reissue of the 1-volume abridged popular edition (under the original title). The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909.

305.F1. London: William Heinemann, May 1932. Printed at the Windmill Press, Kingswood, Surrey. 8°. 22.5 cm, blue cloth, spine lettered and ruled in gilt, top edge blue, dust-wrapper [white, spine lettered in red and black, front lettered in red and illustrated in black]. pp. xv, (1), 368; 24 plate leaves [frontispiece plus 46 photographs], folding map, 4 diagrams in text. —— Renard 1453. Price 5/- net [£0.25]. A reissue of the 1910 edition, with fewer plate leaves. The title leaf continues to mention the color plates, but none are present. Copies: BL, SPRI, 12.

305.F2. London: William Heinemann, 1935. Similar collation.[13]

Greenwood Press 2-volume facsimile of the J. B. Lippincott 2-volume edition (under the original title). The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909.

305.G1. New York: Greenwood Press, Publishers, 1969. Printed in the United States of America. 2 vols. 23.6 cm, brown cloth, spines lettered in gilt. Vol. I: pp. liv, 366, (6); 77 plate leaves [including frontispiece], 5 sketches in text. Vol. II: xvi, 451, (5); plate leaves, 3 folding maps and folding panorama plate at rear. —— Renard 1455. The color plates from the original edition are reproduced in black and white. Copies: Scripps, UAz.

Carroll & Graf 1-volume abridged paperback edition (under the original title). The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909.

305.H1. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, 1999. Manufactured in the United States of America. 23.4 cm, paperback. 8° [6 on p. 81]. pp. (2), xviii, 1, (1), 452, (6); 48 plate leaves [127 photographs, 5 sketches], 6 sketches in text. —— ISBN 0786706848. Price $16.95. On the title-leaf verso is the following: “Publisher’s Note: This edition contains Ernest Shackleton’s own account of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909 as taken from the 1909 edition of The Heart of the Antarctic.” The publisher does not mention that this is an abridged edition, omitting Hugh Robert Mill’s historical introduction, David’s narrative of the Northern Party, and the scientific appendices. The front wrapper’s prominent feature is a spectacular blooper: a photograph of the wrecked Endurance. The rear cover’s blurb about the 1907-9 expedition contains innumerable misstatements. Copies: 38.

Shackleton began working on The Heart of the Antarctic soon after the party’s return to New Zealand. The expedition had created a worldwide stir, so Shackleton and his publisher William Heinemann moved as quickly as possible to maximize sales. Shackleton, who could speak much more effectively than he could write,[14] dictated much of the book to Edward Saunders, a young New Zealand newspaper reporter who had become enraptured with Shackleton during an interview for the Lyttelton Times. Saunders accompanied Shackleton back to England as literary assistant. Progress on the narrative was rapid; most of the writing was completed during the months of August and September 1909.[15] Shackleton and Saunders worked well together; Shackleton’s persuasive command of language is evident throughout the text, and his personal ambience was well preserved in Saunders’s careful transcription and editing.

The publication date has variously been given as late October,[16] early November,[17] or 4 November.[18] Shackleton wanted Saunders acknowledged on the title leaf, but Saunders refused, commenting that the work “should stand without any attempt being made to explain just how [it was] produced.”[19] The book was an instant success and was translated into Italian,[20] German,[21] Swedish,[22] French,[23] and Hungarian.[24] It was translated much later into Russian.[25]

The three-volume special edition is one of the most handsome productions in the Antarctic canon. Nothing was spared by the publisher and printer to style the volumes as beautifully as possible. The work is sumptuously bound in vellum, in large quarto format with broad margins around the typeset, and printed on thick, high-quality, deckle-edged paper specially watermarked “1907 BAE 1909”. The full-page photographic plates are outstanding, printed one side only on glossy paper; Marston’s watercolors are vibrantly reproduced, each mounted on a sheet of thick, brown paper with a titled tissue paper guard. The Antarctic Book possesses the coup—a double page signed by all members of the shore party.[26] The three-volume special edition was still being offered for sale as late as 1916.[27]

Hugh Robert Mill, noted Antarctic historian and friend to Shackleton, contributed an historical introduction. Shackleton’s diary of the southern journey is virtually unaltered; his narrative is one of the most compelling in the Antarctic literature. The Northern Party’s trek toward the south magnetic pole, another classic, was written by T. W. Edgeworth David (vol. II, pp. 73-222).

The twelve color plates in the earliest editions after watercolor paintings by Marston are uniformly remarkable for Marston’s use of color and subject material, but especially for his interpretive mood of the Antarctic. Among the finest are “The Dreadnought”, depicting the Nimrod dwarfed by a large berg; “The Nimrod Returns”, with colorful reflections off the icy sea; “Full Moon in Winter”, a bleak, faintly illuminated scene; and “The Depot Party amongst Crevasses”, the magnitude of the yawning ice reducing man to near insignificance.

Even though the expedition did not have a professional photographer, some of the photographs are particularly noteworthy. The best include “The Crater of Erebus”, the men atop the rim dwarfed by the menacing depth of the crater; “Marston in his Bed”, an image of hut life, the subject lying under his blankets reading by candlelight; “The Camp Under the Granite Pillar”, on the Beardmore Glacier against a sheer backdrop of stark granite; “The Southern Party on Board the Nimrod”, a fine portrait of the bearded and exhausted band of four upon their return; and “The Northern Party at the South Magnetic Pole”, a handsome photograph of the three men with their small flag at the climactic moment of their historic accomplishment.

The Antarctic Book contains the double leaf bearing the sixteen signatures, reproductions of Marston’s colored pencil sketches of the four men who constituted the southern party, two extracts from Aurora Australis (“Erebus” and “Bathybia”), and six additional Marston illustrations. Of the six Marston illustrations, three were already presented in Aurora Australis (“Southward Bound” and “Explosion of a Toadstool” reproduced exactly, “The Crater of Mount Erebus” in negative relief); two were newly created for The Antarctic Book (“Mount Erebus in Eruption” and “Giant Toadstools”), along with an etching of Wild not found elsewhere.

The first state of The Antarctic Book is a readily explainable oddity deriving from an error in setting up Shackleton’s poem “Erebus”. The poem originally appeared in Aurora Australis in its proper form. It so happens that each page in Aurora Australis has a running head: rectos bear the title of the specific literary entry; versos bear “Aurora Australis.” Joyce and Wild, who set up Aurora Australis in the Cape Royds hut, used only one kind of type, and many of the titles and all of the running heads were set up with the same capital letter type. In Aurora Australis, the poem “Erebus” required the recto and verso of a leaf: the breakpoint occurred between “perilous places.” and “They, weary, wayworn”.

The individual who set up The Antarctic Book must have thought there were two poems, not realizing that “Aurora Australis.” was only the verso’s running head. Thus “Aurora Australis” became a separate poem commencing “They, weary, wayworn”; it was given its own title leaf and was listed in the contents on p. 7. When the error was found, the contents page was corrected, the two portions of “Erebus” were reunited, and the “Aurora Australis” title leaf was removed; but now, in order to avoid an error in pagination, another leaf had to be inserted: it is the unnumbered leaf decorated on the recto with the sign of the penguins.

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[1]Joe Bugayer is to be credited with the rediscovery of the 1st (uncorrected) state. (I say “rediscovery” because the publisher obviously knew about it.) Bugayer made me aware of it on 8 May 1997 when he called to describe an anomalous copy and asked if I had ever seen or heard of it. After our conversation, Bugayer made public the information for the first time. The collations of The Antarctic Book given by Spence in his 1966 edition and Renard 1444 and 1445—to my knowledge the only detailed collations previously published—are of the 2nd (corrected) state.

[2]Séfi, King Edward VII. Land (London, 1912), p. 18 [advertisement page].

[3]D. Mawson, The Home of the Blizzard (London, 1915), vol. I, p. ii.

[4][Shackleton], British Antarctic Expedition 1907-9 . . . Reports on the Scientific Investigations. Geology. (London, 1916), vol. II, p. ii.

[5]Shackleton, The Heart of the Antarctic, 1-vol. edition (London, 1910).

[6][Shackleton], British Antarctic Expedition 1907-9 . . . Reports on the Scientific Investigations. Geology. (London, 1916), vol. II, p. ii.

[7]D. Mawson, The Home of the Blizzard (Philadelphia, 1915), rear of v. I dustwrapper.

[8]Based on the binding, which is virtually identical to the 2nd Heinemann impression.

[9]Mawson, The Home of the Blizzard (Philadelphia, 1915), rear of v. I dustwrapper.

[10][Shackleton], British Antarctic Expedition 1907-9 . . . Reports on the Scientific Investigations. Geology. (London, 1916), vol. II, p. ii.

[11]Letter, William Heinemann to Douglas Mawson, 15 January 1915, MC.

[12]Renard, cat. 309 (1994), entry 545; Simper, cat. 14 (Spring 1997), entry 281; Bull, cat. 27 (Fall 1997), entry 862.2.

[13]Bull, cat. 9 (February 1989), entry 469 1/2; Brockhaus, cat. 129 (1994), entry 155.

[14]Huntford, Shackleton (London, 1985), p. 317.

[15]Mill, The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton (London, 1923), pp. 158, 163.

[16]Ibid., p. 167.

[17]Huntford, Shackleton (London, 1985), p. 318.

[18]Fisher and Fisher, Shackleton (London, 1957), p. 273.

[19]Huntford, Shackleton (London, 1985), p. 319.

[20]Alla Conquista del Polo Sud (Il Cuore dell’Antartico): Storia della Spedizione Antartica Inglese (1907-09). Milano [Milan]: Fratelli Treves, 1909. 2 vols.

[21]21 Meilen vom Suedpol: Die Geschichte der Britischen Südpol-Expedition 1907/09. Berlin: Verlag von Wilhelm Gusserot, no date [1910]. 3 vols. Translated by Frederick Becker.

[22]Antarktis’ Hjärta: Berättelsen om den Engelska Sydpolsexpeditionen 1907-1909. Stockholm: P. A. Norstedt & Soners Forlag, 1910. 2 vols. Translated by Carl Forsstrand.

[23]Au Cœur l’Antarctique: Expedition du “Nimrod” au Pole Sud. Paris: Librairie Hachette et Cie, 1911. Translated by Charles Rabot.

[24]Az Antarktisz Sziveben. Budapest: Vilagirodalom-Kiadas, no date. Translated by Halasz Gyula.

[25]B ëÖêÑñÖ ÄçíÄêäíàäà. [Transliterated title: V Serdtse Antarktiki.] åéëäÇÄ [Moscow]: ÉéëìÑÄêëíÇÖççéÖ àùÑÄíÖãúëíÇé [transliterated publisher: Gosudarstvennoye Izdatel’stvo Geograficheskoy Literatury] [State Publishing House for Geographical Literature], 1957.

[26]Sixteen men signed, but only fifteen had wintered at Cape Royds: the extra man was Aeneas Mackintosh. After Mackintosh lost his right eye in an accident on board the Nimrod on 31 January 1908, which necessarily excluded him from consideration of inclusion in the shore party, he went back to New Zealand. The next season, he returned to the Antarctic and became a member of the Bluff depot party. Shackleton trusted him and likely included him in the book signing to honor him. Shackleton later put Mackintosh in charge of the Ross Sea shore party during the 1914-17 expedition.

[27][Shackleton], British Antarctic Expedition 1907-9 . . . Reports on the Scientific Investigations. Geology. (London, 1916), vol. II, p. ii.