Held Monday 6 April 2009, Bonhams, New York and San Francisco.

Lot No: 3153 WILKES, CHARLES. 1798-1877.
WILKES'S OWN COPY OF THE EXCESSIVELY RARE CONGRESSIONAL ISSUE OF HIS EXPEDITION NARRATIVE.
Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. Philadelphia: C. Sherman, 1844. 5 volumes plus atlas. Text volumes with 64 engraved plates and 9 double-page maps (Vol 1: 8 plates and 1 map; Vol 2: 14 plates and 3 maps; Vol 3: 11 plates; Vol 4: 16 plates and 1 map; Vol 5: 15 plates and 4 maps) plus over 250 woodcut and steel engraved text illustrations chiefly after Joseph Drayton and Alfred T. Agate. Atlas with 5 large folding maps, 4 of which are hand-colored. 4to (311 x 235 mm). Original full green morocco by Gaskill (with binder's tickets), stamped in gilt and blind, covers with eagle vignettes, all edges gilt. Foxing (mostly marginal, but heavier at ends and near plates), occasional corner dampstain, endpapers discolored, bindings rubbed with some abrasions, small chip to foot of vol 2 spine.
First edition, rare official Sherman issue, and a presentation copy from Congress to Commander Wilkes, the bookplate in vol 1 reads: "Presented by the Congress of the United States to Captain Chas. Wilkes, US Navy, Commanding Expedition." Only 100 sets of the official Congressional issue were printed, and of these only about 75 were thought to survive the 1851 Library of Congress fire. This is the best possible set of the greatest American scientific voyage of the 19th century, "issued by the United States Congress to announce Americas scientific coming of age ... It was the first American scientific expedition of any size, charged to "extend the bounds of Science and promote the acquisition of knowledge," and was one of the most ambitious Pacific expeditions ever attempted" (Forbes). The Expedition represents "the first governmental sponsorship of scientific endeavor and was instrumental in the nation's westward expansion. Specimens gathered by expedition scientists became the foundation collections of the Smithsonian Institution. Significant American contributions in the fields of geology, botany, conchology, anthropology, and linguistics came from the scientific work of the expedition. Wilkes's evaluations of his landfalls influenced later U.S. positions in those areas" (Dictionary of American Biography). Wilkes also made immensely important charts of the American Northwest, Hawaii, Fiji, the Philippines and more. Wilkes was the first to announce the existence of an Antarctic continent.
The 100 sets of the official printing were all intended for foreign heads of states, American state libraries, and other special presentations. This set, presented to Wilkes himself is of the utmost desirability. Moreover, it remains unsophisticated and in its original Gaskill bindings. The only other auction record found by us for a Congressional issue was the Crosby-Kitham set which was bound in period calf. Haskell records one set of the official issue in the possession of descendant J. Frank Wilkes of Charlotte, N.C. as of 1942, possibly this is the same set. Forbes 1517; Haskell 1 (text) & 16 (atlas); Hill 1867; Howes W414; Sabin 103994.
Soldfor $115,900 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Photo: Bonhams website

This from a prominent collector:

"In case you weren't aware, what in my opinion was the single most significant and extraordinary book item of interest to Antarctic buffs in the last 25 years came up for auction last Monday at Bonham's in New York. It was Wilkes's own set of the 5-volume narrative plus atlas, the "official" congressional issue of 100 copies (virtually all in institutions, only one to my knowledge surfacing on the market in the last quarter century), with the presentation plate from the U.S. Congress on the front paste-down of vol. I, all volumes still in the original magnificent full green tooled morocco, with modest signs of wear and the front cover of the atlas showing early signs of impending separation (without proper care) ... Certainly this was the premier set of the extremely rare first edition, first binding of these volumes. The set hammered at $95,000 ($114,000 with the 20% buyer's premium). I know, because I was the unhappy underbidder... I had actually been of the belief the set would bring $150,000 or more. Well, for me it will always be the big fish that got away!"

Lot No: 3154 WILKES, CHARLES.
Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard, 1845. 5 volumes plus atlas. Text volumes with 64 engraved plates and 9 double-page maps plus over 250 woodcut and steel engraved text illustrations chiefly after Joseph Drayton and Alfred T. Agate. Atlas with 5 large folding maps, 1 of which is hand-colored. Large 8vo (280 x 180 mm). Original cloth stamped in gilt and blind. Plates dampstained (mostly pale, but heaviest in vol 2 also affecting text and with some mold-staining), closed stub tear to world map, minor foxing at ends, creasing to maps in Atlas vol, rebacked with original spine panels laid down, partially unopened.
First regularly published edition of the immensely influential account of the greatest American scientific voyage of the 19th century (Forbes). The first two printings were of 100 and 150 copies each. Subsequent editions did not include the Atlas. Forbes 1575; Haskell 2b (text) and 17b (atlas); Hill 1867; Howes W414; Wagner-Camp 100.
Sold for $5,185 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Lot No: 3155 [WILKES EXPEDITION.]
"The Exploring Expedition. Lea and Blanchard, Philadelphia, are preparing for publication, and will shortly issue...," being the 2-page publisher's prospectus for Wilkes's Narrative. Bound into: Posthumous Memoirs of Time by N. W. Wraxall, 1845. 8vo. Original black cloth. Even browning, light foxing, cloth tired.
Very rare publisher's prospectus for the imperial octavo publication of the Wilkes' Expedition set, accurately described as "this great and truly national work." Forbes 1518; Haskell 2-B.
Sold for $732 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Lot No: 3156 [WILKES EXPEDITION.]
DANA, JAMES D. United States Exploring Expedition under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. Vol. VII. Zoophytes. Philadelphia: Printed by C. Sherman, 1846. Text illustrations. 4to (311 x 232 mm). Original full morocco, covers with eagle vignettes, all edges gilt. Binding worn and dry with covers detached.
First edition, rarest state of the rare official Congressional issue. Only 100 sets of the official issue were printed by Sherman; of these only about 75 were thought to survive a fire. The present is a rarity among rarities: it contains Danas preface. Haskell reports that there was a Committee edict declining to print author prefaces to the scientific volumes and the binders were instructed accordingly. Only a few copies of the Congressional issue were bound before the edict went forth. Haskell 21A.
Sold for $4,575 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Lot No: 3157 [WILKES EXPEDITION.]
DANA, JAMES D. Structure and Classification of Zoophytes. Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1846. Text volume only. 132 pp. Text illustrations. 4to. Original printed boards. First/last few leaves and boards spotted and browned, old rebacking of crude leather, boards rubbed, scattered inkstamps of the Wellington Public Library.
Presentation copy, inscribed on half title: "Sir J.G. Dalzell / from the Author." Forbes 1585.
Sold for $915 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Lot No: 3158 [WILKES EXPEDITION.]
DANA, JAMES D. Synopsis of the Report on Zoophytes of the U.S. Exploring Expedition.... New Haven: Published by the Author, [1859]. Text vol only. 8vo. Original printed boards. Boards rubbed with spine cracked and chipped at ends.
Haskell 24.
Sold for $366 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Lot No: 3159 [WILKES EXPEDITION.]
GRAY, ASA, editor. United States Exploring Expedition under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. Vol. XVII. Botany. Cryptogamia. Phanerogamia. Philadelphia: Printed by Sherman & Co, 1874. 4to (310 x 229 mm). Original full morocco, covers with eagle vignettes, all edges gilt. Binding rubbed with front joint starting.
First edition, rare official Congressional issue. Only 100 sets of the official issue were printed and even fewer distributed. Haskell 68.
Sold for $1,220 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Lot No: 3160 [WILKES EXPEDITION.]
HALE, HORATIO. United States Exploring Expedition under the Command of Charles Wilkes, U.S.N. Vol. VI. Ethnography and Philology. Philadelphia: Printed by C. Sherman, 1846. Illustrated with 3 maps (2 double-page, 1 of the double-page maps hand-colored in outline). 4to (313 x 230 mm). Original full green morocco by Gaskill (with binders ticket), stamped in gilt and blind, covers with eagle vignettes, all edges gilt. Foxing (heaviest at ends), occasional corner dampstain, binding rubbed with several scrapes, spine sunned to brown.
First edition, rare official Congressional issue of the first volume of the scientific reports. Only 100 sets of the official issue were printed by Sherman; of these only about 75 were thought to survive a fire. Haskell 19.
Sold for $3,050 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Lot No: 3161 [WILKES EXPEDITION.]
PICKERING, CHARLES. United States Exploring Expedition ... Vol. IX. The Races of Man and their Geographical Distribution. Boston: Charles C. Little. London: John Murray, 1848. 12 hand-colored ethnographic plates and a colored folding map. 4to. Original cloth, rebacked. Pale marginal dampstain and a little spotting, 2 library bookplates, rebacked and corners repaired.
First edition, presentation copy, first unofficial issue, one of 150 copies printed. This copy inscribed on the front free endpaper: "Mrs L. Sanders with the respects of C. Pickering."
Sold for $1,037 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

NON-WILKES LOTS

Lot No: 3031 [MARRA, JOHN.]
INCLUDES RARE MAP.
Journal of the Resolution's Voyage, In 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775 on Discovery to the Southern Hemisphere ... also a Journal of the Adventure's Voyage in the Years 1772, 1773, 1774 with an Account of the Separation of the Two Ships and the Most Remarkable Incidents that Befel Each.... London: F. Newbery, 1775. xiii, [1 errata], 328 pp. Folding chart, 5 engraved plates, plus an additional folding chart: "Part of the tropical Discoveries of the Resolution Sloop, Captain J. Cook in 1774." 8vo (206 x 122 mm). Period full calf. Route chart backed and with some damp- and mold-stains, lacking free endpapers, spine and extremities worn.
First edition of the rare first published account of Cook's second voyage, and the first book to contain information on the Antarctic regions based on first-hand knowledge. Marra was an Irish gunner's mate who Cook picked up in Batavia. His story was published about a year and a half before Cook's official account became available. "It records many incidents omitted by Cook and gives the reasons which caused Sir Joseph Banks and his twelve assistants to withdraw from the expedition at the last moment" (Hill). The plates include the first views of the Antarctic. The extra frontispiece map is infrequently found. Du Rietz remarks that it "was apparently inserted by the publisher in some unsold copies during the latter half of 1776; today it is to be found in very few copies only. It is a revised corrected state of the map issued with the June issue of the Gentleman's Magazine 1776." Du Rietz 809; Hill 1087; Kroepelien 8090; Sabin 16247; Streeter sale IV, 2408. Provenance: Thomas George Thrum, editor of The Hawaiian Annual and Almanac, first published in 1875, and Hawaiian Folk Tales (bookplate).
Sold for $5,795 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

Lot No: 3146 RICHARDSON, JOHN & JOHN EDWARD GRAY.
The Zoology of the Voyage of H.MS. Erebus and Terror, Under the Command of Captain Sir James Clark Ross, During the Years 1839-1843. London: E.W. Janson, 1844-1875. 7 parts in 3 volumes. Approximately 188 plates (only of 198); bird plates and several mammal plates hand-colored. 4to (298 x 237 mm). Period quarter morocco (first 2 vols). Lacking about ten plates (about half those to mammals and half to birds), lacking chart and title page to Ichthyology section; vol 2 browned and foxed, some foxing and wear in vol 1, scattered stains, preliminaries worn, part 6 (Insects) nearly detached from binding and part 7 (mollusks) rebound separately in modern cloth, original bindings worn at joints and extremities, hinges cracked, sold as is.
First edition of the zoological results of Ross' great Antarctic expedition, apparently a presentation copy, inscribed on the first text page: "Dr Burmester with Dr Gray's kind regards." The narrative of the voyage was published by Ross in 1847 and the botanical results were separately published as Flora antarctica by Joseph Hooker. This remarkable assembly of knowledge contains several works of great individual importance: John Edward Grays work on marine mammals was a major contribution to knowledge of the seals of the Southern Hemisphere and the Antarctic regions. George Robert Gray determined that the emperor and king penguins are separate species. The section on reptiles was the first illustrated herpetofauna concerning Australia and New Zealand. Richardson's "Ichthyology" is distinguished as one of the most important zoological studies from the classic era of Antarctic exploration. According to Sabin, two complete zoological volumes were originally published in twenty-four parts at ten shillings each, the first eighteen of which appeared in 1844-48, and the last 1874-75. In fact, any parts of the natural history findings of the Ross Antarctic expedition are rare on the market. Janson imprint not noted by Sabin. Sabin 71032.
Sold for $6,710 inclusive of Buyer's Premium

To be held Wednesday and Thursday 25-26 March 2009, Bloomsbury Auctions, London.

872. McCormick (Robert) Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas, 2 vol., first edition, 3 portraits, 3 maps, 2 folding, 36 tinted lithograph plates including 5 folding panoramas, 24 wood-engraved plates, wood-engraved text illustrations, vol. II half-title only, vol. II very small tear in margin of frontispiece, foxing, without the 16pp. publisher's memorandum and opinions of the press found in some copies, original gilt pictorial cloth, spines dulled and slightly creased, vol. II spine stained, corners bumped, [Spence 747], 8vo, 1884.
est. £1000-£1500
Unsold

873. Mill (Hugh Robert) The Siege of the South Pole. The Story of Antarctic Exploration, first edition, frontispiece, plates, folding chart and maps (3 folding, 1 colour), slightly foxed and browned, ink presentation inscription to G.T. Temple from his son, upper hinges weak, original gilt pictorial cloth, [Spence 793], 1905 ¤ Armitage (Albert B.) Cadet to Commodore, first edition, frontispiece, slightly foxed and browned, original cloth, gilt spine, 1925; and 4 others, Polar, 8vo (6)
est. £200-£300
Unsold

879. Scott (Capt. Robert Falcon) The Voyage of the Discovery, 2 vol., first edition, presentation copy from the author to George Temple, half-titles, photogravure frontispieces, folding maps in pockets at end, plates and maps, some colour, some double-page, some slight foxing, original blue cloth, raised gilt medallions on upper cover, spine slightly faded, t.e.g., [Spence 1051; Taurus 41], 1905; and another, vol. I, 8vo (3)
est. £2000-£3000
Inscription reads: "Lieut. G. Temple with the compliments of the authorities of the Expedition." George Theodore Temple (1847-1935), lieutenant commander RN, Knight, 1st Class, of Order of St. Olaf, FRGS; friend of Captain Scott and organiser of the relief fund for the rescue of Scott and the Discovery.
Sold for £5000

882. Cherry-Garrard (Apsley) The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic 1910-1913, 2 vol., first edition, maps and plates, a few colour, some folding including 10 panoramas, one or two very slightly frayed at edges, contemporary ink inscription "G.V.McLaughlin 17.VII.24" on front free endpaper, endpapers a little spotted and browned, some pencil figures at end of vol.2, original mid-blue cloth, rubbed, vol.2 with light stains to boards, spines browned, particularly vol.1, [Rosove 71.A2], 8vo, 1922. est. £500-£700
"Significantly scarcer than the previous [cloth-backed boards edition]". Rosove.
Sold for £800

883. [Davis (John King)] "Aurora" Relief Expedition, Report of Voyage, first edition, 2 maps, one partly coloured in outline, creased throughout, small tear to head of title, original printed wrappers, browned and creased, stamp on cover 'ex libris R.N. Rudmose-Brown', [Spence 353], folio, Melbourne, 1918. est. £1000-£1500
Rare. Robert Neal Rudmose-Brown (1897-1957, polar explorer, geographer and book collector).
Sold for £6000

888. Scott (Capt. Robert Falcon) Scott's Last Expedition, 2 vol., second edition, 2 folding maps, plates, printed slip regarding maps, bookplate in vol.I, original cloth, slightly damp-affected and bumped, t.e.g., 8vo, 1913.
est. £100-£150
Sold for £90

889. Shackleton (Ernest H.) The Heart of the Antarctic, 3 vol., comprising The Heart of the Antarctic, 2 vol., first edition, number 193 of 300 copies, 2 tipped-in photogravure frontispieces and 12 tipped-in colour plates all with captioned tissue guards, 4 double-page photographic plates, 271 photographic illustrations on 195 plates, diagrams, maps, plans & graphs in the text, including 9 full-page, 3 folding maps and 1 folding plate containing 2 panoramic views in pocket at end of vol.II, silk markers, some light foxing, original full vellum with gilt penguins vignette on upper covers, 1909; The Antarctic Book. Winter Quarters 1907-1909, only edition, one of 300 unnumbered copies, signed by all sixteen members of the Shore Party, 4 mounted colour portraits from crayon drawings, 6 original etchings by George Marston, original vellum-backed boards, slight darkening toward top edge of boards, 1909, all t.e.g., others uncut, minor spotting, slight whitening to spines, but overall a fine set, 4to.
est. £10000-£15000
An excellent deluxe edition of one of the preeminent works on Polar exploration.
Sold for £13000

890. Shackleton (Ernest H.) The Heart of the Antarctic, 2 vol., first trade edition, half-titles, colour plates with captioned guards, photographic plates, lacking maps, hinges and second half-title crudely reinforced, contemporary library buckram, 4to, 1909.
est. £80-£120
Sold for £95

To be held Thursday 25 September 2008, at 10:30 am at London, King Street.

To be held Thursday 3 April 2008, at 10:30 am at Swann Galleries, 104 East 25th Street, New York. Web: www.swanngalleries.com. Previews: Sat, March 29 (10-4), Mon, March 31 to Wed April 2 (10-6). For further information: Telephone: 212-254-4710. Tobias Abeloff. E-mail: tabeloff@swanngalleries.com

Results including buyer's premium (20%) shown in italics.

093. Amundsen. The South Pole. London, 1912. First edition. Estimate: $1,000-2,000. $1,200
103. Byrd. Alone, New York, 1938. Limited to 225 numbered and signed copies. Estimate: $150-250. $425
104. Cherry-Garrard. The Worst Journey in the World, London, 1922. First Edition. Estimate: $1,500-2,500. $1,300
112. Joyce. The South Polar Trail, London, 1929. First Edition. Estimate: $400-600. $550
117. Mawson. The Home of the Blizzard, London, 1915. First English Edition. Inscribed. Estimate: $2,000-3,000 $3,600.
142. Sailor Stories and Songs, Concord, NH, 1853. "Nautical tales and verse, including 2 items of Antarctic interest." [A new one on me.] Estimate: $400-600. $425
145. Shackleton. The Heart of the Antarctic, London, 1909. First English Edition. Deluxe issue with the 'Antarctic Book.' Estimate: $15,000-25,000. $26,000
146. Shackleton. The Heart of the Antarctic, London, 1909. First Trade Edition. Estimate: $250-350. $140
147. Shackleton. South, London, 1919. First Edition. Estimate: $1,000-2,000. $2,800
152. Wild. Shackleton's Last Voyage, London, 1923. First Edition. Estimate: $400-600. $1,000

To be held Thursday 23 January 2008, at Dawson & Nye, Morris Plains, New Jersey. For further information: Telephone: 973-984-6900. E-mail: info@dawsonandnye.com. Web: www.dawsonandnye.com

Results including buyer's premium (18%) shown in italics.

Highlights include scarce first editions of, among others,

705. Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope, Anders Sparrman, 1789 est $800-1,000 $1,298
706. The Worst Journey in the World: Antarctic, 1910-1913, Apsley Cherry-Garrard est $800-1,000 $2,596
707. Through the First Antarctic Night, Frederick Cook, 1900 est $500-700 $767
708. The Home of the Blizzard, Sir Douglas Mawson, 1915 est $600-800 $1,770
709. Voyage de la Belgica, Baron Adrien de Gerlache, 1902 est $300-500 did not sell
710. Scott's Last Expedition, 1915 est $500-700 $649
711. Voyage to the Southern Seas, Sir James Ross, 1847 est $1,000-2,000 $2,360
712. Antarctic Days, James Murray and George Marston, 1913, Edition de luxe est $3,000-5,000 $5,900
715. First on the Antarctic Continent, C. E. Borchgrevink, 1901 est $1,500-2,000 $1,062
716. Au Pays des Manchots, Georges LaCointe, 1904 est $400-600 did not sell
718. The Cruise of the Antarctic, H. J. Bull, 1896 est $1,000-1,500 $590
720. With the Aurora in the Antarctic 1911-1914, John Davis, n.d. est $600-800 $1,298
725. The South Pole, Roald Amundsen, 1913 est $500-700 $826
726. Le Francais au Pole Sud, Jean Baptiste Charcot, 1906 est $200-300 $767
727. Zum Kontinent des Eisigen Sudens, Erich von Drygalski, 1904 est $300-600 $413
728. The Antarctic Manual, edited by George Murray, 1901 est $300-500 $2,655
729. With Scott: The Silver Lining, Griffith Taylor, 1916 est $1,000-1,500 did not sell
731. From Edinburgh to the Antarctic, W. G. Burn Murdoch, 1894 est $600-800 $531
732. The Great White South, Herbert Ponting, 1921 est $300-500 did not sell
734. Die Eroberung des Sudpols, Roald Amundsen, 1912 est $400-600 did not sell
. . . and several books by Sir Ernest Shackleton, including
713. The Heart of the Antarctic, 1909 est $600-800 $295
and an exact reproduction of his famous
722. Aurora Australis, 1986 est 700-900 $2,360
723. South, 1919 est $1,500-2,000 $1,888
There is also an almost-complete set of the 1964-1975 Antarctic Map Folio series. 736. $600-800 did not sell
[which seems wildly over estimated]

—From the auction house's press release (reformatted, corrected, edited and with additions).

To be held Wednesday, 19 December 2007, Bloomsbury Auctions, 24 Maddox Street, Mayfair, London. Web: www.bloomsburyauctions.com

To be held Tuesday 27 November 2007, Salisbury, England. For further information: Patrick Bogue on 01258 488838 or 07831 473400 Onslow Auctions Ltd., The Coach House, Manor Road, Stourpaine, Dorset, DT11 8TQE, UK. E-mail: bogue.onslows@btinternet.com. Web: www.onslows.co.uk

To be held Monday 15 October 2007, Sale 2124. Swann Galleries, 104 East 25th Street, New York. Web: www.swanngalleries.com. E-mail: dkaplan@swanngalleries.com

Held Wednesday 26 September 2007, King Street, London.

Lot 23. Robert F. Scott's autograph log as a midshipman, 1883-87. (This has appeared in previous Christie's sales more than once.) Estimate: £10,000-15,000. £20,900 [This lot went to SPRI].
Lots 324-333. These lots were termed the Cyril Longhhurst Collection. Longhurst was the secretary of Scott's Discovery expedition.

Lot 324. 31 letters by Scott and one signed to Sir Clements Markham. Estimate £15,000-25,000. £17,300.
Lots 325-328 comprised letters from Shackleton. The 4 lots together were estimated at £9,000-14,000 and fetched together £20,250.
Lot 329. Letter from Edward Wilson. Estimate £1,000-2,000. £3,500.
Lot 330. Two very nice Wilson watercolours, from the looks of them never published before. Estimate £8,000-12,000. £22,100.
Lot 331. Silver cigarette box presented to Longhurst by Captain Scott. Estimate £4,000-6,000. Did not sell.
Lot 332. Presentation copy of first edition of Voyage of the Discovery, inscribed by Scott. Estimate £1,800-2,500. A whopping £8,750.
Lot 333. A group of letters relating to the Discovery Expedition. Estimate £1,000-1,500. £4,375.

Lot 336. Hartley Ferrar's skis from the Discovery expedition. Estimate £3,000-5,000. £6,000.
Lot 341. James Dellbridge's Polar Medal, Discovery expedition. Estimate £6,000-8,000. £6,875.
Lot 342. 92 photographs by John Donald Morrison chronicling the relief voyage of the Morning. Estimate £3,000-4,000. £10,000 [This lot went to SPRI].
Lot 345. Shackleton's cigarette ration case. Estimate £3,000-5,000. £6,250.
Lot 351. Arthur Harbord's polar medal, Nimrod expedition. Estimate £6,000-8,000. £6,875.
Lot 355. The Harry Dickason collection, comprising autograph manuscript journals, notes, photographs and sketches relating to the Northern Party of the Terra Nova expedition. This important collection was estimated at £20,000-30,000. £46,100. The second highest bid for Antarctic material.
Lot 360. Cherry-Garrard watercolour of Mount Erebus. Estiamte £700-1,000. £6,875. [Mine looks like a bargain at £100 back in 1971.]
Lot 365. Birdie Bowers' photographs (6) taken at the South Pole. Carbon prints. Estimate: £20,000-30,000. £24,500.
Lot 366. Oates' sleeping bag case. Estimate: £30,000-40,000. Did not sell. Not surprising; it was only the case, for heaven's sake. Throw in the bag (it's at SPRI) and it would have sold well.
Lot 371. Amundsen's waterproof matchbox holder. Estimate £700-1,000. £5,625. Pretty high.
Lot 375. Alexander Lorimer Kennedy's field hockey stick (AAE 1911-13). Estimate: £1,500-2,500. £1,500. For a hockey stick!!!
Lot 378. An album of 18 Frank Hurley gelatin silver photographic prints (also 12 by C. Veiga), last sold at Christie's, 17 September 1998, Lot 209 (£10,350). Estimate: £15,000-20,000. £54,500. Highest of the Antarctic lots; seems to have been a good investment for those who think that way.
Lot 381. A very nice oil painting by Edward Seago. (Almost looks like Cape Wild, Elephant Island, although the title is 'Black Cape, Antarctica.') Estimate: £10,000-15,000. £13,700.

Lot 43. Charcot, Jean Baptiste. Le ''Francais au Pole Sud'' Journal de L'expedition Antarctique Francaise, 1903-1905. First Edition. Estimate: $250-350. $460

Lot 59. Debenham, Frank. The Voyage of Captain Bellingshausen to the Antarctic Seas, 1819-1821. Hakluyt Society, 1945. Estimate: $400-600. $863

Lot 149. Morrell, Benjamin A Narrative of Four Voyages to the South Sea, North and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopic and Southern Atlantic Ocean, North and South Pacific Ocean, Chinese Sea, Ethiopic and Southern Atlantic Ocean, Indian and Antarctic Ocean. From the Year 1822 to 1831. New York, 1832. First Edition. Estimate: $200-300. $184

Lot 191. Shackleton, E.H. The Heart of the Antarctic: Being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909. Philadelphia, 1909. First American Edition. Estimate $400-600. $403

Lot 222. Webster, W.H.B. Narrative of a Voyage to the Southern Atlantic Ocean. in the Years 1828, 29, 30, Performed in H.M. Sloop Chanticleer. London, 1834. First Edition. Covers detached. Estimate: $300-500. $173

Lot 226. Wilkes, Charles Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition. During the Years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842. Philadelphia, 1845. Estimate: $10,000-15,000. $11,500

To be held Tuesday 26 June 2007, starting at 11 am. 101 New Bond Street, London. Tel: +44 (0)20 7468 8351. E-mail: books@bonhams.com. Web: www.bonhams.com

Lot 229. Birdie Bowers' four-page autograph log of his voyage on the Barque Loch Torridon from London to Adelaide, and return, setting out from London on 3 November and arriving on 22 December 1901; the return journey from 13 April to 29 June 1902. Estimate: £400-800. £1,900

Lot 230. A tobacco cutter from Discovery, crudely made from mahogany blocks, bolts and a wooden-handled carving knife, with a brass plaque engraved "Scott, Shackleton, Mawson. Made from Cabin Engines Wireless of Discovery. Presented to Padre French 1933." Estimate: £200-300. £520

Lot 232. Frank Hurley. 'The Aurora in a Blizzard', gelatin silver print, mounted [c.1911]. Estimate: £1,000-2,000. £1,200

Lot 233. Alexander Kerr's collection of lantern slides from Frank Hurley's negatives, illustrating the famous story of Endurance and her crew under the leadership of Sir Ernest Shackleton (some tinted), together with two further slides showing members of the Quest crew at the burial of Shackleton and the cairn erected on South Georgia, contained in a wooden slide box. Estimate: £10,000-15,000. Did not sell

Lot 235. Menu signed by Shackleton and his companions after their rescue from Elephant Island by the Chilean Navy in 1916. Estimate: £1,000-2,000. £4,000

Lot 237. William G. Burn Murdoch. From Edinburgh to the Antarctic. An Artist's Notes and Sketches during the Dundee Antarctic Expedition of 1892-93, FIRST EDITION, 1894. Estimate: £300-500. £300

Lot 238. James Murray and George Marston. Antarctic Days. Sketches of the Homely Side of Polar Life by Two of Shackleton's Men. Illustrated by the Authors ... introduced by Sir Ernest Shackleton, NUMBER 192 OF 280 COPIES OF THE EDITION DE LUXE, signed by Shackleton and the authors, 1913. Estimate: £2,000-3,000. £2,900

Lot 240. National Antarctic Expedition 1901-1904, 12 vol. (complete), FIRST EDITION, numerous plates (photogravure, chromolithographed, half-tone, and others), folding panoramas, blindstamps, one volume WITH A NOTE BY CLEMENTS MARKHAM, and 2 autograph letters signed by him loosely inserted, 1907-1913. Estimate: £2,000-4,000. £2,000

Lot 241. Herbert G. Ponting. The Great White South. Being an Account of Experiences with Captain Scott's South Pole Expedition and of the Nature of Life of the Antarctic, 1921. Estimate: £200-400. £200

Lot 242. James Clark Ross, A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, During the Years 1839-43, 2 vol., FIRST EDITION. Estimate: £1,000-2,000. £1,400

Lot 243. 'Stormonth Tait "Discovery" Port Wine Shipped by Stormonth Tait Co., Oporto... the only port wine selected by the Antarctic Expedition for the use on board the "Discovery" and the relief vessel "Morning"', a full bottle of port, cork intact with lead seal, 2 printed labels (title as above, and 'Also Supplied to The Shackleton Rowett Expedition S.S. "Quest", 1921"). Estimate: £200-400. £220

—R. Stephenson
(7 June 2007)

Thanks to David Wilson for bringing this sale to my attention.

To be held Thursday 24 May 2007, at 1:30 pm at Swann Galleries, 104 East 25th Street, New York. Web: www.swanngalleries.com. Previews: Sat, May 19 (10-4), Mon, May 21 to Wed May 23 (10-6), Thurs May 24 (10-noon).

Prices realized excluding the buyer's premium are shown in bold below (Note: Swann's buyer's premium is 20%).

89. Marra, Journal. [Estimate $8,000-12,000] $18,000
90. Cook. Complete set of first editions. 9 volumes. [25,000-35,000] $28,000
92. Weddell, Voyage. 2nd edition. [2,500-3,500] $4,000
93. Morrell, Narrative of Four Voyages. [300-400] $150
96. Wilkes, Narrative. 6 vols. Third issue. [4,000-6,000] $6,000
98. Ross, Voyage of Discovery. [2,000-3,000] $3,400
99. McCormick, Voyages of Discovery. [1,500-2,500] $2,400
101. Murdoch, From Edinburgh to the Antarctic. [800-1,200] $1,200
102. Bull, The Cruise of the 'Antarctic.' [1,000-1,500] $1,300
104. Cook, Through the First Antarctic Night. [500-750] $2,400
105. Borchgrevink, First on the Antarctic Continent. [400-600] $900
106. Bernacchi, To the South Polar Regions. Signed. [2,000-3,000] $5,200
109. Nordenskjöld, Antarctic Tva Ar bland Sydpolens Isar. [1,000-1,500] $1,600
111. Nordenskjöld, Antarctica. [500-750] $900
112. Murray, The Antarctic Manual. [3,500-5,000] $4,000
113. Scott, Voyage of the 'Discovery.' [300-400] $1,100
114. South Polar Times. 3 vols [15,000-20,000] $20,000
115. Armitage, Two Years in the Antarctic. [300-400] $850
116. Doorly, Voyages of the 'Morning.' [2,000-3,000] $2,000
120. Aurora Australis. 'Veal' copy. [50,000-75,000] $70,000
122. Shackleton, Heart of the Antarctic. Edition de luxe. 3 vols. [12,000-18,000] $22,000
126. Murray and Marston, Antarctic Days, Edition de luxe. [4,000-6,000] $12,000
127. Charcot, Voyage of the 'Why Not.' [500-750] $850
128. Amundsen, Sydpolen. [800-1,200] $5,000
129. Amundsen, The South Pole. [800-1,200] $3,600
131. Priestley, Antarctic Adventure. [600-900] $2,000
132. Levick's surgeon's kit. [3,000-4,000] $5,200
133. Taylor, With Scott: The Silver Lining. [400-600] $200
135. Cherry-Garrard, The Worst Journey. [1,500-2,500] $5,200
137. Lashly, Diary. [8,000-12,000] $15,000
138. 'Terra Nova' china plate. [3,000-4,000] $2,200
141. Mawson, Home of the Blizzard. [400-600] $800
144. Shackleton, South. [600-900] $2,000
145. Joyce, The South Polar Trail. [400-600] $550
146. Hurley, Argonauts of the South. [200-300] $850
148. Wild, Shackleton's Last Voyage. [300-400] $550

At the reception: George Lowry, Rob Stephenson, John Levinson, David Stam and Nicholas Lowry.
Photo courtesy of Swann Galleries.

David Lilburne and Martin Greene on the left;
David Stam and Greg Glade on the right
(Jeremy Markowitz, who prepared the catalogue, right rear).

Nick Lowry conducting the sale.
Jeremy Markowitz at the far right.

• Sixty-nine of the 76 Antarctic lots sold. Two were passed (did not sell) although I thought there were more than this that went unsold. And five were withdrawn. (Lowry announced during the sale that these lots, all artifacts, had been withdrawn by Dr. Levinson and were being donated to the Antarctic Heritage Trust.)

• The total take for the Antarctic lots came to $260,335 not including the buyer's premium.

• To no one's surprise, the star of the sale, pricewise, was the Aurora Australis which fetched $70,000 ($84,000 with the buyers premium; the runner-up was the complete set of Cook which fetched $28,000). This price is just below the record for an Aurora which was set on 21 March 2006 at the Anderson & Garland sale in Newcastle upon Tyne. That copy went for £53,000 including the buyer's premium or about $92,000 (which if the sale had been held today would be about $106,000).

• Prices were nearly uniformly high against the estimates: 71% of the Antarctic lots sold above the high estimate; 19% sold between the low and high; and only 10% sold below the low estimate.

• The lot that exceeded its estimate by the greatest relative amount was 124, a little-known Souvenir of the "Nimrod" which was bought at $2,400 against an estimate of $100-150, 24 times the low estimate. (I was bidding for an English friend who told me not to exceed $250!)

• Lot 89, Marra's Journal, was quite strong at $18,000 (estimate $8,000-12,000).

• Lot 104, Frederick Cook's Through the First Antarctic Night, $2,400 against an estimate of $500-750.

• Lot 106, Bernacchi's To the South Polar Regions, $5,200 (estimate $2,000-3,000).

• Lot 113, Scott's Voyage of the "Discovery," which was estimated at $300-400. It brought $1,100 which is quite high for a first American edition not in the best of condition.

• Lot 118, Charcot's Française, fetched a very high $3,400 (estimate $500-700).

• Lot 122. The De Luxe edition of Shackleton's Heart of the Antarctic with the Antarctic Book brought $22,000 against an estimate of $12,000-18,000.

• Lot 126. Murray's Antarctic Days, De Luxe edition, $12,000 (estimate $4,000-6,000).

• Lot 128. Amundsen's Sydpolen, $5,000 (estimate $800-1,200).

• Lot 135. Cherry-Garrard's Worst Journey brought a very respectable $5,200 (estimate $1,500-2,500).

This sale has few Antarctic lots. The ones I noticed:

Prices realized including the 15% buyer's premium are shown in bold below.

150. A lot of 6 volumes (Byrd, Richard E. Skyward. First Trade Edition. [1928] * Byrd, Richard E. Little America. First Trade Edition. [1930] * Siple, Paul. Scout to Explorer: Back with Byrd in the Antarctic. First Edition. [1936] * Seaver, George. Edward Wilson of the Antarctic. First American Edition. [1937] * Byrd, Richard E. Alone. First Trade Edition. [1938] * Bertram, Colin. Arctic and Antarctic: The Technique of Polar Travel. First Edition. [1939]. Estimate: $300-500. $184

151. Ponting, Herbert G. In Lotus-Land Japan. Estimate: $100-150. [Not Antarctic but of interest because of Ponting.] $92

153. Priestley, Raymond E. Antarctic Adventure: Scott's Northern Party. (New York) Estimate: $200-300. $161

168. Rymill, John. Southern Lights: The Official Narrative of the British Graham Land Expedition, 1934-1937. Estimate: $300-500. Did not sell

173. Shackleton, Ernest. South: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition, 1914-1917. Estimate: $2,000-3,000. [No explanation appears to explain this overly high estimate.] $3,163

007. Amundsen, The South Pole. London, 1913. Est: $1,000-1,500. [$4,200]

132. Crozet, Nouveau Voyage a la Mer du Sud, Commencé sous les orders de M. Marion. On a Joint a ce Voyage Un Extrait de celui de M. de Surville dans les mêmes Parages.. Paris, 1783. Est: $4,000-6,000. [$10,800]

172. Dumont D'Urville, Voyage au pole sud et dans l'océnie sur les corvettes l'Astrolabe et la Zélée. Paris, 1841-46. Est: $4,000-6,000. [$10,800]

187. Fanning, Voyages Round the World; with Selected Sketches of Voyages to the South Seas, North and South Pacific Oceans, China, etc. New York, 1833. Est: $800-1,200. [$1,320]

194. Forster, A Voyage Round the World, in His Britannic Majesty's Sloop, Resolution, commanded by Capt. James Cook, during the Years 1772, 3, 4, and 5. London, 1777. Est: $3,000-4,000. [$8,400]

298. Kerguelen, Relation de deux voyages dans les mers Australes & des Indes, faits en 1771, 1772, 1773 & 1774. Paris, 1782. Est: $10,000-15,000. [$12,000]

345. Marra, Journal of the Resolution's Voyage, in 1772, 1773, 1774, and 1775. On Discovery to the Southern Hemisphere ... also a Journal of the Adventure's Voyage, in the years 1772, 1773, and 1774. London, 1775. Est: $6,000-8,000. [$9,000]

448. Ross, A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions During the Years 1839-43. London, 1847. Est: $2,000-3,000. [$7,800]

520. Wales and Bayly, The Original Astronomical Observations, made in the Course of a Voyage towards the South Pole, and Round the World, in His Majesty's Ships the Resolution and Adventure, in the Years MDCCLXXII, MDXXLXXIII, MDCCLXXIV, and MDCLXXV. London 1777. Est: $6,000-8,000. [$18,000]

526. Weddell, A Voyage towards the South Pole performed in the Years 1822-24... and a Visit to Tierra del Fuego. London, 1825. First edition. Presentation copy from the author. Est: $6,000-8,000. [$7,800]

528. Wilkes, Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition, during the Years 1838-42. Philadelphia, 1845. Est: $1,000-1,500. [$5,040]

547. [POLAR TRAVEL]. A group of 26 volumes relating to Polar travel, including: HILLARY, Edmund and Vivian FUCHS. The Crossing of Antarctica. The Commonwealth Trans-Atlantic Expedition 1955-58. London, 1958; MUIR, John. The Cruise of the Corwin. Boston and New York, 1917; MARKHAM, Albert Hastings. Life of Sir John Franklin and the North-West Passage. London, 1891; CROFT, Andrew. Polar Exploration. London, 1947; WILLIAMS, Glyndwr. The British Search of the Northwest Passage in the Eighteenth Century. London, 1962. — and 21 others. Est: $600-800. [$1,560]

To be held Thursday 25 January 2007. Check website for time. Further information: PBA Galleries, 133 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA 94108. Toll-free Tel: 1-866-999-7224. Web: www.pbagalleries.com

RESULTS: The prices realized, including 15% buyer's premium, are shown below in bold. Prices were mainly within or above the estimates. By far the priciest item in the whole sale was Lot 186, the first edition of Cherry-Garrard in dustwrappers: $14,950! I expect this is the highest price ever reached at auction for this Antarctic classic.
—R. Stephenson
(26 January 2007)

179 and 180. Amundsen, The South Pole, both NY 1913. Est: $400-900. $1,035 and $488
183. Bull, Cruise of the Antarctic, London 1896. Est: $1500-2000. $1,035
185. Charcot, Voyage of the 'Why Not?', London 1911. Est: $1000-1500. $747
186. Cherry-Garrard, Worst Journey in the World, London 1922. First Edition with the dustwrappers. Est: $5000-8000. $14,950
187. Cook, Through the First Antarctic Night, NY 1909. Presentation copy signed by Cook. Est: $300-500. $632
188. Davis, With the 'Aurora' in the Antarctic, London 1919. Est: $800-1200. $747
190. Hurley, Argonauts of the South, NY 1925. Est: $300-300. $345
191. Mawson, Home of the Blizzard, London 1915. Est: $800-1200. $805
193. Burn Murdoch, From Edinburgh to the Antarctic, London 1894. Est: $1000-1200. $920
196. Priestley, Antarctic Adventure: Scott's Northern Party, NY 1915. $400-700. $700
200. Shackleton, Heart of the Antarctic, London 1909. Est: $400-600. $690
201. Shackleton, South, NY 1920. Est: $400-600. $230
203. Thomson, Voyage of the 'Challenger,' NY 1878. Est: $300-500. $373
204. Wild, Shackleton's Last Voyage, London 1923. $400-600. $805
233. Jenkins, Voyage of the U.S. Exploring Squadron, Auburn 1850. Est: $300-500. $172
264. Wilkes, Narrative of the U.S. Exploring Expedition, Philadelphia 1845. 5 vols. Est: $500-800. $978
338. Byrd. 'Little America' Admiral Byrd's South Pole Game [board game]. ca. 1934. Est: 100-150. $288

To be held Thursday 26 October 2006, Cheffins, Clifton Road, Cambridge, UK. Web: www.cheffins.co.uk

Raymond J. Adie was deputy director of BAS between 1974 and 1985.

RESULTS: Prices realized are given below, presumably hammer prices and not including the buyer's premium. Most prices were higher than the estimates, some several times. The highest price was for the Ross (lot 435) which went for £3,600, closely followed by the 2 of 3 volumes of the South Polar Times (lot 497) which fetched £3,400.

435. Ross, Sir James Clark. A Voyage of Discovery and Research . . . First edition London 1847. Raymond Priestley's copy with his bookplate. Estimate £2,000-3,000. [£3600]

436. Wild, Frank. Shackleton's Last Voyage. Extra illustrated with some photographs. Estimate £200-300. [£900]

437. Scott, Robert Falcon. The Voyage of the Discovery. First edition. Along with Hunter Christie The Antarctic Problem. Estimate £200-300. [£460]

439. Borchgrevink, C.E. First on the Antarctic Continent. Rudmose-Brown's copy. Estimate £150-200. [£380]

440. Amundsen, Roald. The South Pole. Rudmose-Brown's copy. First Edition. Estimate £500-800.[£800]

441. Davis, John King. With the Aurora in the Antarctic along with Mawson, Home of the Blizzard. Presentation copies to Rudmose-Brown. Estimate £400-600. [£850]

442. Burn Murdoch, W.G. From Edinburgh to the Antarctic, An Artist's Notes and Sketches. . . Hugh Robert Mill's copy. Estimate £200-300. [£480]

445. McCormick, R. Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas. . .. Rudmose-Brown's copy. First Edition. Estimate £200-300. [£1100]

447. Murray, James and George Marston. Antarctic Days. Rudmose-Brown's copy. First Edition. Estimate £100-150. [£420]

447. Bernacchi, Louis. To the South Polar Regions. First Edition. Estimate £100-150. [£750]

448. Rudmose-Brown, R.N., et al. The Voyage of the Scotia. First Edition. Estimate £150-250. [£480]

452. Shackleton, Sir Ernest. The Heart of the Antarctic. First edition. Estimate: £100-150. [£180]

455. Nordenskjold, Otto. Antarctica. London 1905. Estimate £200-300. [£380]

460. Joyce, Ernest. The South Polar Trail. First Edition. Estimate £100-150. [£300]

461. Shackleton, Sir Ernest. South. First edition. Estimate: £200-300. [£1400]

465. Doorly, Gerald S. The Voyages of the Morning. Estimate £200-300. [£1200]

468. Aagaard, Bjarne. Fangst og Forskning I Sydishavet, Oslo: 1930-1934, 3 volumes in 4. Presentation copy to Rudmose-Brown. Along with Bagshawe, Thomas Two Men in the Antarctic. Estimate: £300-400. [£180]

472. Priestly, Raymond. Antarctic Adventure: Scott's Northern Party. First edition. Estimate: £200-300. [£280]

474. Mulock, Lieutenant G.F.A. The Charts of the Discovery Expedition. Estimate: £800-1,200. [£2000]

493. Charcot, Jean. Le 'Francais' au Pole Sud. First edition. Estimate: £200-300. [£300] A second copy (lot 496) signed by Charcot went for £360.

494. Charcot, Jean. Le Pourquoi-Pas? dans l'Antarctique. . .. First edition. Estimate: £300-400. [£460]

495. Charcot, Jean. The Voyage of the Why Not? in the Antarctic. First edition in English. Estimate: £200-300. [£460]

497. The South Polar Times, Vols II and III only. Estimate £3,000-5,000. [£3400]

499. National Antarctic Expedition, Scientific Results. 4 vols of 12 but including the Album of Photographs and Portfolio of Panoramic Views. Estimate: £300-500. [£1600]

500. Bruce, W.S. Report on the Scientific Results of the Voyage of S.Y. Scotia. . . Vols 2-6 of 7. Estimate: £300-500. [£460]

To be held Wednesday 27 September 2006, King Street, London.

RECAP:

Ninety Antarctic lots comprised this sale, 20 of which did not sell. Lot 225 (the Hurley photographs) fetched the highest bid, £120,000, nearly 4 times the low estimate. The next highest were the Amundsen photographs (208) which sold at £78,000. (All prices include the buyer's premium.) The least expensive lot was 213 which went for £420 (a Nansen title). The greatest differential between estimate and price was lot 206, Amundsen's sledging medical kit. It was estimated at between £1000 and £2000 but brought £18,000.
—R. Stephenson
(28 September 2006)

149. Pastel and watercolor portrait of James Clark Ross. Rather amateurish looking but described as "the earliest portrait of the polar explorer." Estimate £6,000-8,000. Did not sell

162. Michael Barnes' World Atlas "with his ink annotations." Only of interest to me because I saw this last year at Sotherans. Thought about it but passed. Estimate £700-1,000. £1,560

171. Gregory Robinson's large watercolor of The Nimrod under tow from the Koonya. Appearing for at least the third time in recent sales. Estimate £7,000-10,000. Its estimate in the 21 September 2005 sale was £10,000-15,000 and it did not sell. It sold at the 17 September 1999 for £8,625 including premium. Did not sell. Expect we'll see it again.

173. Marston oil painting "Aurora Australis." Of interest because it's painted on venesta board and the back of the painting has stenciled lettering. This is the same material used for binding the book "Aurora Australis." Estimate £15,000-20,000. £19,200

181. "Aurora Australis," Antarctica's first book. "Presented to Mr. Charls Cooper / by one of the Printers / Ernest E. Joyce / May 12th 1910." £30,000-40,000. A copy sold in March for £53,000 including premium (see below). At Christie's a year ago, a copy brought £30,000 including premium, and at the Discovery Book Auctions sale of 14 September 2005, a better copy fetched $53,438 (see below). £33,600

201-220. Lots consigned by Anne-Christine Jacobsen, Roald Amundsen's Great-Niece. Of interest to me because I and some other Antarcticans saw some of these items when we enjoyed a memorable dinner at her house in Oslo. I will be watching closely to see what Lot 215 fetches: "Amundsen's bayonet carried on the Lincoln Ellsworth expedition 1925-26 . . . used by Amundsen to build the 500 meter long and 12 meter wide runway on the ice for the N25 in June 1925." I have a smaller knife that Amundsen gave Ellsworth and in Ellsworth's hand he writes that they used it to fashion the runway. Estimate £500-1,000. Did not sell

208. The Amundsen Photographs. 250 "direct positive glass lantern slides" which were the subject of Roland Huntford's book, "The Amundsen Photographs." These involve three expeditions: Northwest Passage, South Pole and Maud. Estimate: £30,000-50,000. The highest estimate in the Antarctic section of the sale. £78,000

222. Amundsen's "Sydpolen," in the original 40 parts, uncut and unopened. Estimate £5,000-7,000. £5,040

225. An album of Hurley photographs given by Shackleton to Janet Stancomb Wills, a key sponsor. Seventy-nine gelatin silver prints. Estimate: £25,000-35,000. £120,000

233. Admiral Byrd's Inuit fur-lined anorak. Of interest here because it just sold at an auction not far from me on 25 May 2006 (see below), fetching $3,850. Estimate £6,000-8,000. If it reaches its estimate this will be a decent return on investment. £6,600. Indeed, a good return.

THE CATALOGUE IS NOW ON-LINE AT: http://www.christies.com/auction/calendar/auction_calendar.asp

UPDATE: "This year's sale (Exploration and Travel with The Polar Sale) is on 27 September, viewing from Friday 22 September, and includes The Amundsen Collection, relics of the explorer from the collection of his great niece, Anne-Christine Jacobson—this includes The Amundsen Photographs—Amundsen's lantern slides of the South Pole expedition, and of his Gjøa and Maud expeditions—(the subject of Roland Huntford's book), along with Nimrod expedition material from the collection of Dr Eric Marshall, Hurley photographs, etc. The catalogue will be online from next week (sale 7261). Next year's sale is scheduled for 26 September."
—Thanks to Nick Lambourn
(2 September 2006)

". . . some interesting things in already including J. C. Ross's chronometer from HMS Erebus used to survey Ross Sea in 1839; Dr Marshall's camera and some original glass negatives from Nimrod (including Farthest South image); a great Marston (Aurora Australis as illustrated in Heart of the Antarctic - showing Aurora above hut at Cape Royds); good Hurleys, etc."
—Thanks to Nick Lambourn
(23 January 2006)

To be held Thursday 25 May 2006.

This sale features a sealskin parka once owned by Admiral Richard E. Byrd, deaccessioned from the Smithsonian Institution. Four photos appear under 'Preview 1.' No lot number or estimate is given.

The sale will be held at Vernon Hill Post 435 American Legion, 267 Providence Street, Worcester, Massachusetts, beginning at 6pm.
Preview from 3pm
Tel: 508-612-6111
E-mail: info@centralmassauctions.com
Web: www.centralmassauctions.com

—R. Stephenson
(21 May 2006)

RESULTS: "The coat sold for $3850."

To be held Tuesday 21 March 2006. Further information: Anderson & Garland, Anderson House, Crispin Court, Newbiggin Lane, Westerhope, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE5 1BF
Tel: +44 (0) 191 430 3000. Fax: +44 (0) 191 430 3001. Email: info@andersonandgarland.com

Lot 683:

Shackleton (Ernest Henry) Aurora Australis, 4to, original leather-backed venesta packing-case boards stencilled "MARMALADE" (with neatly restored leather hinges to the inside covers, the original outer spine complete with "Sign of the Penguins" and title stamps) 107 leaves, including blanks and including titlepage "Printed at the Sign of the Penguins; by Joyce & Wild. Latitude 77 deg.. 32 minutes south longitude 166 deg.. 12 minutes east Antarctica", colour frontispiece and 11 lithographs and etchings by George Marston; published at the Winter Quarters of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907, during the winter months of April, May, June and July 1908: a presentation copy dedicated by Shackleton "To Lady Grey from the Editor, E.H. Shackleton, June 1910".

NB: This work was the first book completely printed and produced on the Antarctic Continent. In 1907 Shackleton embarked on an expedition to Antarctica aboard the Nimrod in an attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole. Having already visited the polar regions with Robert Falcon Scott on the Discovery Voyage 1903-04, Shackleton recognised the importance of maintaining moral among crew members during the dark winter months; and so to keep boredom at bay, the expedition took with them a printing press, an etching press, quantities of paper and ink and other materials needed to write, typeset, illustrate and bind a full-length publication. This book was produced under extremely difficult conditions in the cramped hut at Cape Royds on Ross Island - the expedition's base and home to fifteen men. Frank Wild and Ernest Joyce had learned the essentials of printing in England prior to departure, but with outdoor temperatures of minus 50 deg. or less, and indoor temperatures often below freezing, they had to move a candle back and forth under the ink plate to keep the ink from freezing solid. Expedition artist George Marston illustrated the volume with etchings and colour lithographs. Crew biologist James Murray, working on his specimens alongside Marston's etching press, noted "I've seen him during a whole night pull of half a dozen wrong ones for one good print, and he did not use so much language over it as might have been expected". Bernard Day, the expedition's motor mechanic, bound the book using venesta board - an early form of plywood - from packing cases to make book covers. These boards often bear stencilled letters indicating the original contents of the packing cases such as bottled fruit, chocolate, or as in this case, marmalade. They then used old pony harness and seal skin for the spine and hinges which secured with cords.

About 100 copies were produced; the exact figure is unknown as copies were not numbered. Of these it is thought about 25 to 30 were bound as in this example. The contents also differ somewhat from copy to copy.

Although produced mainly for presentation to members, friends and backers of Shackleton's expedition, relatively few copies are in fact signed or inscribed in any way; this copy is dedicated to Viscountess Grey, wife of the fourth Earl and one time Governor General of Canada.

£10000-18000

(From the firm's website: http://www.andersonandgarland.com)

—Thanks to Paul Youngs
(13 March 2006)

RESULTS: The Aurora went for £46,000 which with the buyer's premium took it to £53,000 or ca. $92,000, probably the highest an Aurora has ever sold for at auction. This is far in excess of its £10,000-18,000 estimate and quite a bit higher than the copy in the September 2005 Christie's sale (£30,000, including buyer's premium, ca. $52,000) and the Discovery Book Auctions copy ($53,437, including the buyer's premium). Here's what was said in the local paper yesterday:

Polar book is sold off for £53,000

By Tony Henderson, The Journal

A book printed in the Antarctic which ended up in a Northumberland stables yesterday became the most expensive volume to be sold in the North-East.

One of only 100 produced at explorer Ernest Shackleton's overwintering base, it was sold for £53,000 by Newcastle auction house Anderson & Garland.

What is technically the first book printed in the Antarctic had been signed by Shackleton to Lady Grey, the wife of Albert Henry Grey, 4th Earl Grey whose family seat was Howick Hall in Northumberland.

And it will be staying in the North-East as a Northumberland polar enthusiast beat off national and international interest, including bids from New York and Canada.

The book's covers are made from the thin wooden packing of a crate which contained marmalade and pony harness and seal skin were used for the binding. The 1908 British Antarctic Expedition was the second of four to the South Pole by Shackleton.

He took a small printing and etching press to relieve boredom and keep up morale during the long winter months holed up in the expedition base. Team members wrote items, illustrated by lithographs and etchings.

Auction house book specialist John Anderson discovered the book, which was sold by a descendant of Lady Grey, in a tea chest in stables.

He said: "It was a privilege to handle a book which resonates with history. It is an evocative rarity. Not only is the book phenomenally rare, but Shackleton did not sign every book, but he did sign this one to Lady Grey."

The books, never numbered, are known by the stenciled descriptions of what the packing cases contained, such as the chocolate, bottled fruit and coffee editions.

—From The Journal. 23 March 2006

To be held Wednesday 9 November 2005 commencing at 11 am. Dominic Winter Book Auctions Ltd., The Old School, Maxwell Street, Swindon, Wiltshire. Telephone : +44 (0) 1793 611340. Facsimile : +44 (0) 1793 491727. Email: info@dominicwinter.co.uk. Web: http://www.dominicwinter.co.uk

Prices realized in bold.

28
Davis (John K.). With The 'Aurora' in The Antarctic 1911-1914, 1st ed., 1919, b&w plts., maps, etc., some minor marginal foxing, orig. dark blue cloth gilt, spine lightly dulled (generally a good copy), 8vo. £200-300. £360

55
Mawson (Sir Douglas). The Home of the Blizzard, Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914, 2 vols., 1st ed., 1915, photogravure frontis. to each vol., b & w and col. plts. from photos., diags. and few single-page maps, three folding maps in rear pocket of vol. 2, orig. dec. cloth, 4to. £300-400. £460

62
Scott (Captain R.F.). Scott's Last Expedition, ed. Leonard Huxley, 2 vols., 1st ed., 1913, half-title and photogravure frontis. to each, numerous col. and b & w plts. and illusts., incl. many from photos., panoramas, maps and charts etc., spotting throughout, t.e.g., orig. cloth gilt, upper joint of vol. 1 split, large. 8vo, together with Peary (Robert E.), The North Pole, 1st ed., 1910, b & w plts. from photos, folding map loosely inserted (creased & closed tears to folds), slight ink staining to lower edges of pages, occ. spotting, orig. cloth gilt, ink marks to covers, 4to, with Wild (Frank), Shackleton's Last Voyage. The Story of the Quest, 1st ed., 1923, col. frontis., b & w plts. from photos, inner joints split, library label to lower pastedown, orig. gilt dec. cloth rubbed to extrems., large 8vo. £100-150. £100

63
Scott (Captain Robert F.). The Voyage of the 'Discovery', 2 vols., 1st ed., 1905, b & w frontis. to each vol. and b & w plts., folding map at rear of each vol., occ. scattered spotting, contemp. half morocco gilt, extrems. slightly rubbed, 8vo, together with Shackleton (E.H.), The Heart of the Antarctic, being the Story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909, 2 vols., 1st ed., 1909, b & w frontis. to each vol. and b & w plts. from photos., contemp. half morocco gilt, extrems. slightly rubbed, 8vo, with Amundsen (Roald), The South Pole, An Account of the Norwegian Antarctic Expedition in the "Fram" 1910-1912, 2 vols., 1st ed., 1912, b & w frontis. to each, b & w plts., two folding maps, occ. scattered spotting, contemp. half morocco gilt, extrems. slightly rubbed, 8vo. £150-200. £580

64
Shackleton (Sir Ernest). South, The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917, 1st ed., 1919, col. frontis., b & w plts. from photos, folding map at rear, pink ink staining to plt. facing p.229 (also with closed tear to lower margin), ink wash marks to upper margins of pp.162-163, 229, 306-307 & 322-323, pages browned and some spotting throughout, orig. cloth, large 8vo The 1st ed. was printed on poor quality paper. Spence 1107. £300-500. £480

308
Oates (Lawrence Edward Grace, 1880-1912). Autograph Letter Signed ('L.E.G. Oates'), Gestingthorpe Hall, Castle Hedingham, Essex, n.d., holograph envelope postmarked 28th August 1909, to Mrs William H. King, telling of his safe arrival him after a very comfortable journey and recommending the steamer to Fleetwood, then telling of the harvest being put back by the wet, then 'I hope and trust William has ceased to smell of whisky since I left', and thanking her for her kindness in putting him up, 2 pages with integral blank, sm. 8vo, sellotape stains to top and bottom margins of blank leaf and to upper edge of envelope 'Titus' Oates applied to join Captain Robert Falcon Scott's second ill-fated Antarctic expedition and in March 1910 learned that he had been accepted. Famously his last words as recorded by Scott were, 'I am just going outside and may be some time'. £100-150. £240

317
Shackleton (Ernest Henry & Cope, John Lachlan). Typed letter signed 'E. H. Shackleton', on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition letterhead, 6th August 1914, to J. Cates [of British Petroleum Oil Company], in which Shackleton notes that 'I have been compelled to abandon the idea of taking a supply of petrol from this country owing to the small size of the Endurance and to the strong representations of her captain', saying that he has made alternative arrangements and apologising for not being able to take up his very generous offer, date correct as manuscript, together with a series of three autograph letters signed on British Imperial Antarctic Expedition letterhead, two signed by Expedition Commander John L. Cope and one signed by Secretary, Ph. Partington, 1st-12th November 1919, all to British Petroleum, the first requesting a meeting for an interview, the second agreeing the meeting of Cope and Mr. Screeton, and the last post-meeting, 'I have calculated that we shall require 280 tons of refined kerosene and 26 tons of spirit for use during the five years we shall spend in the Antarctic', all four letters struck through in pencil and two with ink receipt stamps, sl. chipped at right margins, 1 pp., 4to, together with a rare printed prospectus for the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition, [1919], 16 pp., orig. stapled printed wrappers, with some related pencil and coloured pencil notes to upper cover [by a B.P. official noting the amount of kerosene and spirit requested by Cope], sl. soiled and strong vertical fold, large slim 8vo.

John Lachlan Cope had been a member of Shackleton's Ross Sea Shore Party (1914-17), and then planned the British Imperial Antarctic Expedition on a grand scale involving some fifty people, with a budget of Ï100,000. The money was not forthcoming and the objectives were therefore changed dramatically, leaving only the exploration and mapping of the Weddell Sea coast. Finally, a party of just four men was assembled with no ship and inadequate supplies of equipment, food and research tools set off. The nominal leader was John Lachlan Cope with Hubert Wilkins as his second. These two quickly abandoned the expedition, altogether when they realised the unrealistic aims of their project. The remaining two personnel, Maxime Charles Lester and Thomas Bagshawe remained in Graham Land for one year throughout the winter of 1921/22. The SPRI Archives own the original document of the prospectus by Cope which includes testimonials from W. S. Bruce and others. This printed version of Cope's ambitious plans is very rare, with only one other copy traced at Manchester University.

—Thanks to Chris Albury
(1 November 2005)

21 September 2005 at King Street, London. There are two sales on this date, Exploration and Travel with the Polar Sale at 2:00 pm and the P.R. Sandwell Collection of Pacific and Arctic Voyages in the morning at 11:00 am. Viewing for both sales from Friday the 16th. See the catalogues and view the results at www.christies.com

The afternoon sale—with 70 Antarctic lots—will be of most interest to Antarcticans, but the morning sale does have a few items that are worth a look.

P.R. Sandwell Collection of Pacific and Arctic Voyages

Lot 31. James Cook. A Voyage towards the South Pole...1777 First Edition, along with A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean...1785 Second Edition. Estimate £4000-6000. Price including buyer's premium: £4800.
Lot 32. The Forsters. A Voyage round the World...1777 First Edition. (Cook's second voyage). Estimate £2500-3500. Did not sell.
Lot 33. Johann Reinhold Forster. Observations made during A Voyage Round the World on Physical Geography, Natural History...1778 First Edition. Estimate £1500-2000. Price including buyer's premium: £1560.
Lot 76. Dumont D'Urville. Voyage de la corvette l'Astrolabe...1830-35. Complete set, in all 23 volumes. Estimate £30,000-50,000. The Antarctic highlight of the sale. Did not sell.
Lot 78. James Clark Ross, A Voyage of Discovery...1847 First Edition. £1500-2000. Price including buyer's premium: £3000.
Lot 81. Charles Wilkes. Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition...1845. First trade edition. 5 volumes and atlas. Estimate £3,000-5000. Did not sell. (see below)

Lot 328. Charles Wilkes. Narrative of the United States Exploring Expedition...1844-45. The rare first, official Congressional issue, one of only 100 sets printed. Estimate £4000-6000 (a bargain!) Price including buyer's premium: £19,200. (At the estimate it would have been a bargain!
Lots 332 and 355. Two Edward Wilson watercolors. Estimates £2000-4000 and £4500-5500. Prices including buyer's premiums: £4560 and £5400.
Lot 339. The visitor's book used aboard Nimrod August 1907 - June 1909. Includes signatures of expedition members and crew. Estimate £10,000-15,000. (Sold at Polar Sale of September 1998 for £9200 against estimate of £3000-5000.) Did not sell.
Lot 340. Painting by Gregory Robinson, The Nimrod under tow from the Koonya. Estimate £10,000-15,000. (Sold at Polar Sale of September 1999 for £7500 against estimate of £10,000-15,000.) Did not sell.
Lot 341. George Marston. Sledging camp in a blizzard. Oil on board. Estimate £9000-10,000. Price including buyer's premium: £9600.
Lot 342. Shackleton's navigational marching compass from Nimrod expedition. Estimate £4000-6000. Price including buyer's premium: £38,400. (Way over estimate.)
Lot 343. Ernest Shackleton. Heart of the Antarctic. Edition deluxe, with The Antarctic Book. Estimate £7000-10,000. Price including buyer's premium: £9000.
Lot 345. Aurora Australis. Estimate £25,000-35,000. Price including buyer's premium: £30,000.

"SIR ERNEST HENRY SHACKLETON (1874-1922), EDITOR. 1908-09 Aurora Australis. East Antarctica: published at the winter quarters of the British Antarctic Expedition, printed at the 'The Penguins' by Joyce and Wild, 1908. 4° (260 x 195mm). Chromolithographic title, 10 lithographic or etched plates by G. Marston (of a possible 11), penguin device repeated throughout in brown or orange. (Lacks the plate 'In the Stables' and Contents leaf, one plate detached, some text leaves partially detached or with short tears around punch holes, without the final printed leaf, 'A Giant Tick Was Investigating the Carcase', known to exist in only a few copies.) Bound by Bernard Day in original sheep-backed packing-case boards, inside lower cover stencilled 'BEANS' and back cover '[JULIE]NNE SOUP', uncut (rebacked, preserving old spine with title and penguin device in blind) Provenance: Louis Bernacchi by direct descent."

A much inferior copy to the one offered by Discovery Book Auctions, although the Bernacchi association is desirable.

Lots 359-368. These 10 lots relate to PO Patrick Keohane, a member of the Terra Nova expedition. Among the items: Lot 359, Keohane's sledge harness (£2000-3000) Price including buyer's premium: £6000; Lot 360, his sledging outfit (£1000-2000) Price including buyer's premium: £6600; Lot 361, his sledging goggles (£2000-3000) Price including buyer's premium: £8400; and Lot 367, his photo album with 28 photographs (£3000-5000) Price including buyer's premium: £7200.
Lot 370. Gregory Robinson. A gouache of Captain Oates walking from the tent to his death. Estimate £1000-1500. (Oates is posed as though he's out for a walk on the moors!) Price including buyer's premium: £1080.
Lot 376. South Polar Times. 3 vols. Estimate £3000-5000. (Discovery Book Auction's copy—Lot 244—is estimated at $12,000-15,000. A better copy by far.) Did not sell.
Lot 383. Frank Hurley. Album of 79 carbon prints, Endurance expedition. Estimate £25,000-35,000. Price including buyer's premium: £30,000.
Lot 390. Rev Arnold Spencer-Smith's Ross Sea Party typescript copy of his journal. Estimate £1800-2500. Did not sell.

For information contact Tom Lamb, tlamb@christies.com or Nicholas Lambourn, nlambourn@christies.com

—R. Stephenson
(4 September 2005)

14 September 2005, Calgary, Alberta.

This will be the first sale of a new auction house, a joint venture of Discovery Book Auctions is a joint venture of Cameron Treleaven, proprietor of Aquila Books, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and Bob Finch, formerly dba High Latitude Books of Bainbridge Island, Washington, USA.
The website (www.discoverybookauctions.com) describes the house as planning "occasional book auctions featuring fine and rare books, ephemera and artifacts in the fields of world travel and exploration, ships & the sea, mountaineering, and true adventure." The mid September sale "...will feature the travel & exploration collection of Michael Porter of Sooke, B.C., Canada, with additions."

Plus many, many other 19th - early 20th century arctic & antarctic and world exploration narratives too numerous to mention. The complete catalogue will be available on line at this web site about August 1st, 2005, and a printed copy will be available by air post for $10 US or $12 Canadian. Visa and Mastercard accepted. For further information, please contact us by phone or email.
—R. Stephenson
(10 April 2005)

UPDATE: The catalogue is now on the Discovery Book Auctions website (www.discoverybookauctions.com). The sale begins at 1:30 pm MDT at the Calgary Winter Club, 4611-14th Street N.W., Calgary.

Lots 1-111 are 'Arctic & Alaska'.
Lots 112-260 'Antarctic'.
Lots 261-270 Polar.
Lots 271-322 'World Exploration'.

Only Antarctic lots are commented on below.

Many of the lots consist of multiple titles, in some cases 30 or more.

Estimates and prices are in US dollars. Prices realized are from the Discovery Book Auctions website.

154. Bernacchi - To South Polar Regions - 1901. Estimate $800-1,200. Hammer price: $1,900
155. Borchgrevink - First on Antarctic Continent - 1901. Estimate $800-1,000. Hammer price: $850
157. Brown, R.N. Rudmose, et al - The Voyage of the 'Scotia' - 1906. Estimate $750-1,000. Hammer price: $850
173, 174. Cherry-Garrard - Worst Journey in the World - 1922 2 vols 1st edition. Estimates $2,000-2,500. Hammer price: $3,200; Lot 174 did not sell.
175. Cook - Voyage Towards South Pole - 2 vols 1777 1st edition. Estimate $4,000-6,000. Hammer price: $6,500
176. Cook - Through First Antarctic Night - 1900. Estimate $300-400. Hammer price: $375
179. Davis - With the Aurora in the Antarctic - 1919. Estimate $800-1,200. Hammer price: $650
181, 182. Doorly - Voyages of the Morning - 1916. Estimates $3,000-4,000. Hammer price: $2,200. Lot 181 did not sell.
198, 199. Hurley - Argonauts of the South - 1925. Estimates $400-700. Hammer price: $850; $425
201, 202, 203. Joyce - South Polar Trail - 1929. Estimates $500-1,000. Hammer price: $450; $600; $400
208. Mawson - Home of the Blizzard - 2 vol 1st US ed. in dust jackets. Estimates $2,000-3,000. Hammer price: $2,100
214A. Murray - The Antarctic Manual. Estimate $1,500-2,000. Hammer price: Did not sell.
216. Nordenskjold - Antarctica - 1905. Estimate $800-1,200. Hammer price: $1,000
224. Priestley - Antarctic Adventure - 1914. $600-800. Hammer price: $450
228. Ross - Voyage of Discovery & Research - 1847 2 vols. Estimate $2,000-2,500. Hammer price: $2,400
232. Scott - Voyage of the Discovery - 2 vols 1905, Estimate $1,750-2,500. Hammer price: Did not sell.
242. Shackleton - South - 1919 1st edition. Estimate $2,000-3,000. Hammer price: $1,900
243. Aurora Australis - 1907. 'Oatmeal' copy. Estimate $50,000-70,000. Hammer price: $47,500
244. South Polar Times, 3 vols. Estimate $12,000-15,000. Hammer price: $20,500
245. South Polar Times, 3 vols. Estimate $6,000-8,000. Hammer price: Did not sell.
255. Weddell - Voyage Towards South Pole - 1827. Second edition. Estimate $1,700-2,200. Hammer price: $2,000
256. Wild - Shackleton's Last Voyage - 1923. Estimate $300-400. Hammer price: $225
266. McCormick - Voyages of Discovery in the Arctic and Antarctic Seas... - 1884. Estimate $3,000-4,000. Hammer price: $3,000

Lot 243—the highpoint of the sale—is a copy of the Aurora Australis. (There's also a copy in the Christie's sale on 21 September.) Here's the description from the catalogue:

"243. Shackleton, Ernest H., editor. AURORA AUSTRALIS. Printed at the Winter Quarters of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907, during the Winter Months of April, May, June, 1908. Illustrated with Lithographs and Etchings, by George Marston. Printed at the Sign of the 'Penguins': by Joyce and Wild. Latitude 77 ... 32' South. Longitude 166 ... 12'East, Antarctica. Small 4to. 107 unnumbered leaves, incl. 10 blanks and 11 full page illus. These include 7 lithographs, 2 of which are mounted and one printed in brown ink, and 4 etchings. Title printed in blue & black, then 7 leaves of preliminaries incl. 2 blanks, followed by 10 chapters, each with separate title leaf printed in red. In addition, 8 of the plates have separate caption leaves, also printed in red, the other 3 captions being on one leaf. In original 3 ply beveled packing case boards, uncut, leaves punched & laced with cord. Inner front board stenciled "OATMEAL". Inner rear board stenciled "ISH ANTARCT.... EDITION 190".
A very fine, completely unsophisticated copy, with no repair or restoration, and none needed. The spine leather is just slightly rubbed, there is stain (or possibly a defect in the leather) just above the ending "A" in the blindstamped "Aurora" in spine title, but no cracking or flaking, inner joint leather & cord lace in original condition, no pulling of punched holes in text leaves. - in all a very superior copy, possibly one of the finest in existence. Laid in a custom curved back morocco & cloth foldover Solander box.
$50,000.00-$70,000.00
Rosove 304.A1b. This copy purchased by consigner at a Sotheby's Auction in London in 1976. See Colour illustration."

—R. Stephenson
(4 September 2005)

UPDATE: From our on-site correspondent—

"My general observations were these:

All 14 lots of Arctic scenery pottery (lots 9-22) passed. Most combo lots of inexpensive books (whether Arctic or Antarctic) passed, even though the estimates (and thus reserves, which were 75% of the low estimate) were reasonable.

Average material generally sold below or within the estimate range, seldom above, and if so, not by much.

Very good material, especially if condition or provenance were attractive, did very well.

I wouldn't want to conclude anything about the general activity of the polar book market from this sale because much of the material was average. If anything, the market for better quality material was strong, and in a few instances, unrelenting.

The Aurora Australis (lot 243) was a very nice, unrestored copy, without signatures or provenance, and it brought $47,500 (plus the 12.5% buyer's premium). The South Polar Times (lot 244) was an acceptable set, not as pristine as described, and it brought $20,500 (plus the buyer's premium). As for "best performance by an Antarctic book", measured as multiples of the estimated range, these were a copy of the rare 1929 edition of Amundsen's The South Pole (lot 114, estimate $150-250, hammer $425), a neatly restored 4th edition of Fanning's 1838 book Voyages to the South Seas with pencil inscription by the author (lot 188, estimate $1,000-1,500, hammer $4,000), and a fine 1st edition of Marr's 1923 Into the Frozen South with a chipped and stained dustwrapper (lot 205, estimate $250-350, hammer $1,600). These realizations do not include the 12.5% buyer's premium.

All the lots were present for viewing at Cameron's Aquila Books bookshop. The auction took place at the very pleasant Calgary Winter Club where Bob and Cameron were very generous hosts. Following the afternoon sale, Cameron and Bob hosted a wine and cheese party at the Aquila Books bookshop, and the atmosphere was spirited and jovial.

All together on the floor there were about 25 people. Bob and Cameron were representing absentee bidders, and bids came in by telephone and e-bay.

Dealers present included (beside Bob and Cameron) Bernie Lauser, Chet Ross, Helen Kahn, Eric Waschke, and Bjarne Tokerud."

UPDATE: From an e-mail kindly sent by Bjarne Tokerud, Bookseller, who was at the sale—

"One bookseller, a very active bidder, was missed in your correspondent's list: Patrick McGahern (ABAC/ILAB) of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He purchased numerous costly items, presumably for stock.

The on-site correspondent missed one notable event: a mystery private buyer who spent approximately $100,000 on a variety of Arctic, Antarctic and North West Pacific voyages.

Furthermore, I estimated an audience of 32-35, although some were obviously spectators. In all, I believe about 9-10 people gathered up most of the highlights of the auction.

The person who purchased the Aurora Australis commented to me (after the sale), "I would have paid $70,000 for it, if I had had to." I am not sure if he consulted the Christie's catalogue beforehand, or if he had had a chance to see a digital image of the book on offer in London, but for the money, he obtained a far superior copy, in my opinion, if condition was an issue. The financial vote on the association copy, with attendant wear and flaws, said that it was worth about the same.

The Discovery Book Auction could not have taken place without the consignment of Mr. Michael Porter of Sooke, B.C. It is unfortunate that Discovery Book Auctions revealed nothing about this collector and why he chose and collected the books that were consigned. He collected Antarctic, Arctic, Canadiana and the important voyages concerned with the Pacific North West.

Many dealers were curious about the ramifications of bidding in "real time" against bidders logged in to I-Collector and Ebay Live Auctions. World wide bidding! Collectors from afar could now join in!

We needn't have worried. The few lots that I saw knocked down to the computer, were usually under $500 hammer price.

As for those lots that did not sell, I suppose one can blame the pre-sale estimates which, as some remarked, resembled full retail prices. There were few condition issues, in general, so I wouldn't point the finger at this factor.

Perhaps the crowd that collects Antarctica is now more senior in age, with the buyers willing to spring for the rarities. However, good books seem to go begging, or achieve normal wholesale results.

In all, it was a fun event, especially on the eve of the Christie's EXPLORATION AND TRAVEL SALE AND THE POLAR SALE held a week later."

20 April 2005, Christie's South Kensington, London. Sale at 2 pm; viewing from the 16th.

There are four polar lots (42-45) of which three are Antarctic. Pictured in the catalogue is no 44, a watercolour by R.C. Herbert of what appears to be Discovery alongside ice with men, dogs and penguins in the foreground. Estimate of £800-1200. Also a watercolour by Herbert R. Cole of the Terra Nova leaving Port Chalmers (£200-400) and a photograph by Grossmann of the crew of the Discovery (£300-500).
—R. Stephenson
(10 April 2005)

23 September 2004, London. Viewing from the 17th.

UPDATE: A brochure on the sales arrived today. The sale on the 22nd, at London Queen Street, is billed as 'The Polar Sale' "celebrating the centenary of the return of Scott's Discovery to London in September 1904. No details yet except the description: "Pictures, photographs, books, manuscripts, artefacts and relics from the great ages of Polar exploration in the early 19th and 20th centuries." Enquiries: Nicholas Lambourn, nlambourn@christies.com
The sale on the 23rd is at both King Street and at South Kensington, travel other than (presumably) the polar regions. On the 7th of April there's also a sale at King Street (The Quentin Keynes Collection, Part I: Travel) [see above] and on 23 April at South Kensington, Exploration and Travel, again (presumably) non-polar. Catalogues can be viewed at www.christies.com

UPDATE: The two sales have been combined. Whereas there were to be two days, 22 and 23 September, with the Polar Sale on the 22nd; there is now a single combined sale on the 23rd. An unfortunate change as I fly home on the 23rd. Do I pay $175 to change my flight or give it a miss. I thought I'd wait to see the catalogue which arrived on Friday. The Antarctic lots are numbers 147 through 226. Several have appeared at recent Christie's sales and either didn't sell or are being sold again. Here are a few lots that caught my eye:

Lot 152. A small Norwegian flag made by Nicolai Hanson's mother. Hanson, a member of Borchgrevink's 'Southern Cross' expedition, was Antarctica's first recorded death. (£6,000-8,000). (£5,975)
Lot 153. Scott's autograph log book from his midshipman days is being offered again. (£20,000-30,000). (Did Not Sell)
Lot 154. A collection of naval papers of Charles Royds. (£25,000-35,000). (Did Not Sell)
Lot 174. A mixed set of the 'Voyage of the Discovery,' vol I a presentation copy from Scott to his mother; vol II to his sister, "Monsie." (£6,000-8,000). (Did Not Sell)
Lot 176. A 3-volume set of the 'South Polar Times,' vol I with a presentation inscription from Scott to his mother. (£10,000-15,000) (£10,755). Another set (lot 199) is estimated at £5,000-8,000. (Did Not Sell)
Lot 177. What appears to be a very nice 6-foot long model of the 'Discovery.' (£2,000-3,000). (Did Not Sell)
Lot 179. Silver bowl presented to Scott on his marriage from members of the wardroom of the 'Discovery.' (£25,000-35,000). (£31,070)
Lots 186, 216, 217, 220. Some nice George Marstons (lots 186 (Did Not Sell), 187 (£3,824), 216, 217 and 220 (£1,792)). 216 (£6,572) & 217 (£33,460) show the "Endurance' trapped in the ice. (£6,000-8,000 and £30,000-40,000). Both were in earlier Christie's sales: one made more this time, the other less.
Lots 168, 200, 203. Three Edward Wilsons (lots 168 (£5,377), 200, 203 (£5,019)). Lot 200 is particularly nice. It's of Birdie Bowers reading observations on the Ramp. (£8,000-12,000). (£9,560)
Lot 201. A Bowers' 12-page letter to Scott reporting on the loss of the ponies on the sea ice, which seems low at £1,500-2,000. (£10,177). (SPRI lost out on this one.)
Lot 219. Hussey's manuscript journal from the 'Endurance' expedition. (£30,000-50,000, the highest estimate of the Antarctic lots). (£41,825) This was the highest price paid in the polar section of the sale. The lowest price: Lot 144 at £101, a Nansen/Amundsen silver commemorative spoon against an estimate of £300-500.

UPDATE: I attended the sale, among the few that did. I counted 31 in the room when the polar lots came up. Among those I recognized: Alexandra Shackleton, Bob Headland (SPRI), Richard Kossow, David Wilson, Wendy Driver, and the booksellers John Simper (Explorer Books) and Hugh Bett (Maggs). Does the low attendance signify anything? Who knows, although I did hear comments such as "very soft" and "the trend is down" and similar. Of the 92 polar lots (mostly Antarctic, 80 of the 92), 29 or 31.5% didn't sell. This is better than the Silverman sale two years ago (54% unsold) though not as good as last year's sale when only one Antarctic lot went unsold.

I've added in bold above the prices realized including the buyer's premium (now at 19.5%).

How did prices break down by lot type (Antarctic only, i.e. 80 lots):

Photographs including Albums and Slides (21 lots or 26%) — 3 sold above low estimate; 7 below the low estimate; 1 at low estimate; 10 did not sell (48%).
Books and Maps (19 lots or 24%) — 6 sold above low estimate; 6 sold below low estimate; 4 sold at low estimate; 3 did not sell (16%).
Artifacts, Medals, Ship Models, Records and Wire Recordings (14 lots or 18%) — 4 sold above low estimate; 4 sold below low estimate; 1 sold at low estimate; 5 did not sell (36%).
Art and Prints (13 lots or 16%) — 2 sold above low estimate; 8 sold below low estimate; 3 sold at low estimate. None not sold.
MSS/Letters/Diaries (9 lots or 11%) — 3 sold above low estimate; 1 sold below low estimate; 1 sold at low estimate; 4 did not sell (44%).
Ephemera (4 lots or 5%) — All 4 sold below the low estimate. None not sold.
Total Antarctic: 18 sold above low estimate (22.5%); 30 sold below low estimate (37.5%); 10 sold at low estimate (12.5%); 22 did not sell (27.5%).

Thursday 22 April 2004, Bloomsbury Book Auctions, Bloomsbury House, 24 Maddox Street, London W1. http://www.bloomsbury-book-auct.com/

Apparently the unknown or little known unpublished diary of Albert Armitage, a member of Scott's Discovery expedition, is due to be auctioned in Bloomsbury's 'Natural History, Travel & Topography' sale on 22 April.

The Times of London had this article by Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent, in its 29 March 2004 issue:

HOW SCOTT'S No 2 WAS LEFT OUT IN THE COLD
By Dalya Alberge, Arts Correspondent

THE discovery of unpublished diaries has for the first time revealed the strained relations between Scott of the Antarctic and his second in command.

Captain Albert Borlase Armitage, navigator and magnetic observer of the SS Discovery under Robert F. Scott, recorded in meticulous detail one of the most arduous and hazardous tests of human endurance: the Antarctic expedition of 1901 to 1904.

The manuscript relates how clashes and quarrels between two hardened men became so acute that Scott wanted to expel Armitage from the expedition. Their rivalry reached a climax over Scott's apparent fears that a member of his team might outshine him by wanting to explore further towards the South Pole than anyone had previously managed.

The damp-stained and dog-eared volume was described by historians and explorers yesterday as "an extraordinary piece of polar history".

The Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, the world's premiere polar library, is now desperately trying to raise money to save it for the nation. No one had known of the journal's existence until it surfaced from a private collection. Its anonymous owner is to sell it at Bloomsbury Auctions in London on April 22, where it is estimated to fetch between £30,000 and £40,000.

Scott (1868-1912) went on to lead the expedition to the South Pole, where he arrived in January 1912 only to find that Roald Amundsen had beaten him by little more than a month. Sickness, a shortage of food and severe weather took their toll and a search party eventually found Scott's frozen body in his tent.

Armitage's diary dates from between December 24, 1901, and January 31,1904, an heroic age of Polar exploration. In addition to the physical feat of being the first humans to explore the region, they also did valuable scientific work. Armitage was observing magnetic fields, while other members of the team were studying the wildlife, including seals and penguins.

Scott and Armitage initially had the highest respect for each other, but as the expedition wore on, their differences of opinion and rivalry descended into frustration and hostility. Armitage recorded conversations and nuances in intricate detail, only to leave readers today on tenterhooks: some of the pages after the heated exchanges have been torn out of the diary by an unknown hand.

Simon Luterbacher, manuscripts expert with Bloomsbury Auctions, said that we could draw our own conclusions as to why those passages were removed; perhaps Armitage, who lived until 1943, felt some guilt after Scott's death in 1912.

But the sour atmosphere between the two men has survived on the journal's pages.

Although diaries kept by other men on the expedition hinted at it, the full extent of the rift is revealed for the first time in Armitage's private writings. Mr Luterbacher said that Armitage omitted to mention the hostility in his book, Two Years in the Antarctic in 1905: "He was not going to mention that sort of thing," he said.

"He had to get permission from Scott to publish his own version. You are not going to put that you fell out with your captain."

In his entry for April 26, 1903, Armitage recorded his wish to take a small expedition and push it further south than Scott had done. Scott told him that "I had no idea of the difficult surface to travel over, and that he certainly did not 'smile' on the idea, and considered it to be a waste of time".

Their relationship continued to deteriorate. They squabbled, for example, over the accuracy of Armitage's chronometer readings: "The captain . . . is that kind of man who always wants 'just a little more'."

On October 8, 1903, Armitage wrote: "When the captain went to turn in I went to his cabin to ask the reason of his unfriendly manner towards me, for since his return he has hardly spoken a word to me & ignored me when I have spoken to him, or answered very briefly.

"After hesitating for a little he replied . . ." At this point the pages have been carefully removed. Eventually, Scott, at the end of his tether, wanted to send his navigator home. Instead, he banned Armitage from the sledging runs.

Scott may well have had reason to fear being undermined by his deputy, an important explorer in his own right. Armitage became the first person to penetrate the polar icecap, journeying from sea level to 9,000ft. Bloomsbury Auctions will also sell his 110-page handwritten report on that exploration.

Mr Luterbacher said: "Obviously with nearly 50 men living in close proximity in conditions of extreme hardship for a period of three years, tensions were bound to arise, egos were bound to clash and there might well have been professional jealousies."

The journal features many descriptions of the physical and mental state of the men. In one passage, referring to Sir Ernest Shackleton as he was to become, Armitage wrote: "Shackleton had been unable to do any work all the way back. He suffered from bronchial asthma and threw up blood."

"The Capt feared he would never get him back to the ship and Wilson [Edward Wilson a naturalist who died with Scott on the second expedition] assured me that it was only Shackleton's pluck that enabled him to do so. All of them, too, were attacked by scurvy . . ."

Robert Headland, curator of the Scott Polar Research Institute and an explorer who was a member of the first British Antarctic Survey in 1977, said: "It's amazing what comes out of the woodwork. A journal from the second in command is so exciting. A man's diary is always his confessional."

The sale is the first to be held in Bloomsbury Auctions' new premises at Bloomsbury House, 24 Maddox Street. London W1

Albert Borlase Armitage (1864-1943) was an important explorer in his own right (Dalya Alberge writes).
He was the first person to travel on to the polar ice cap, leading a party from Scott's 1901 expedition to 9,000ft above sea level in South Victoria Land.
On his return, he received the King's and the Royal Geographical Society's medals and was promoted to commander RNR.
He was born in Balquhidder, Perthshire, and educated privately and at the Thames Nautical Training College HMS Worcester. In 1886 he joined P&O as 5th officer and in 1897 he was lent by them to the Jackson-Harmsworth North Polar Expedition. In 1901 he was lent to Scott's National Antarctic Expedition as second-in-command and navigator and was responsible for Ernest Shackleton's appointment as an executive officer of the expedition.
During the First World War Armitage captained vessels carrying mail, troops and food, and was torpedoed in 1917 on board the Salsette.
He was married twice and retired in 1923. During the Second World War he was an air-raid precautions warden.
Initially, he had got on with Captain Scott, describing him in his diary entry for October 30,1902, as "clear-headed, amiable, and considerate".
Scott, in turn, regarded him as an excellent practical navigator, but their relationship deteriorated.
Despite Scott's animosity towards him, Armitage was popular. He was nicknamed "Pilot" by other expedition members.
The explorer Sir Clements Markham, who became President of the Royal Geographical Society which commissioned the expeditions once said: "Armitage is splendid. Quite unperturbed whatever happens, he goes on his way without hurry or excitement, but with the most painstaking exactitude. Without any particular cleverness, he possesses one of the soundest judgments I ever met with. He is universally liked and respected on board."

—Thanks to Paul Youngs
(30 March 2004)

UPDATES: "A diary by Captain Scott's second-in-command which reveals the friction between the Antarctic explorers was sold yesterday for £36,000.
The journal of Captain Albert Armitage, navigator on the Discovery, was bought by a private collector after "frantic bidding" at Bloomsbury Auctions in London."
—From The Times, Friday, April 23, 2004.
—Thanks to Paul Youngs.

Diary revealing Scott's polar rivalry sells for £36,000
Nick Foley
A diary written by Captain Scott's second-in-command which reveals the bitter rivalry between the Antarctic explorers yesterday sold for £36,000.
The faded journal of Captain Albert Armitage, the Scottish navigator on the Dundee-built Discovery, was bought by a private collector at Bloomsbury Auctions in London after "frantic bidding".
A series of bids by the Scott Polar Institute in Cambridge, which had launched a fund to buy the unpublished diary, failed, said a Bloomsbury spokesman.
It is not known whether the collector, who is believed to be from Oxford, intends to keep the diary in Britain.
Armitage's journal provides a unique insight into his deteriorating relationship with Scott and records in detail the historic and hazardous Antarctic expedition of 1901 to 1904.
The 100-page diary, which is ragged on the outside but in good condition inside, has been held privately for the past century. In it Armitage chronicles the development of his relationship with the famous explorer on their dangerous journey to the unknown continent.
He begins by saying on 30 October, 1902: "It is very agreeable to be associated with a man like Captain Scott who is at a glance clear-headed, amiable and considerate."
But he later describes tense conversations he had with Scott as their relationship deteriorated into rivalry.
This in-fighting reached a climax when Armitage suggested leading a small team to a point further towards the South Pole than Scott had ever managed - much to the great explorer's annoyance.
In his entry of 26 April, 1903, Armitage noted that Scott had told him: "I had no idea of the difficult surface to travel over; and that ... he certainly did not 'smile' on the idea, and considered it to be a waste of time."
On 8 October, 1903, as the relationship continued to sour, the explorer wrote: "When the captain went to turn in I went to his cabin to ask the reason of his unfriendly manner towards me, for since his return he has hardly spoken a word to me, & ignored me when I have spoken to him, or answered very briefly. After hesitating for a while, he replied."
Tantalisingly, that was where his entry ended. It is believed Armitage ripped out many pages from his journal after Scott's death because he felt guilty about what he had said.
Armitage was the first person to penetrate the polar ice-cap and a manuscript detailing the trip sold yesterday for a hammer price of £26,000 - nearly twice the estimated value.
Cataloguer Simon Luterbacher, from Bloomsbury Auctions, said: "I think it is one of those things that captures the British public's imagination."
—From The Scotsman, 23 April 2004.

Thursday 15 April 2004, New York, from 10:30 am. Viewing from 10 April.

One lot of interest is Cyrene Clarke, Glances at Life upon the Sea; or, Journal of a Voyage to the Antarctic Ocean in the Brig Parana of Sag Harbor, L.I. in the years '53, '54. (Lot 40.) Described in the headline as 'Rare Whaling Pamphlet.' Here's the full description:

84 pages. 12mo, original pictorial wrappers, bottom portion of backstrip missing, front cover detached, with corners chipped and institutional bookplate on verso.
Middletown: Charles H. Pelton, 1854 [front cover dated 1855]
Rare First Edition of pamphlet devoted largely to the author's experiences during a year-long voyage to the South Shetland Islands via the Azores, Cape Verde Islands, Patagonia, and the Falklands. Departing Sag Harbor in June 1853, the Parana reached the Shetlands by November and remained through early February to hunt sea elephants, returning to Long Island in June 1854. Also included are shorter narratives of earlier voyages by Clarke, the first in 1834 on the New-England out of Poughkeepsie, sailing around Cape Horn to the Galapagos Islands, and the second in 1850 on the Bengal bound for the Arctic, stopping in the Kingsmill (now Gilbert) Islands and Tasmania. Unable to go beyond Kamchatka because of the ice, the ship proceeded to Hong Kong, where Clarke obtained a discharge and joined another whaler that successfully passed through the Bering Straits to a latitude of 72°. He returned to New Bedford in 1853 on another ship from Hawaii.
Forster, The South Sea Whaler 23; not in Spence or OCLC; RLIN locates only the AAS copy; no copy has ever been listed in ABPC.

UPDATE: The hammer price was $9,500.
—R. Stephenson
(21 April 2004)

Wednesday 7 April 2004, London, from 10:30 am. Viewing from 2 April.

A mammoth 471 page catalogue arrived not long ago. 500 lots of some very interesting books and manuscripts but only a few Antarctic items: 31. Morrell's Narrative of Four Voyages [£776]; 49. Fanning's Voyages Round the World [£956]; 55. Weddell's A Voyage towards the South Pole [£2,151]; 57. Reynolds' Pacific and Indian Oceans; or, The South Sea Surveying and Exploring Expedition [did not sell]. 58. Ross's A Voyage of Discovery and Research in the Southern and Antarctic Regions, along with Hooker's Notes on the Botany of the Antarctic Voyage [£4,541].
—R. Stephenson
(15 March 2004)

UPDATE: The total sale fetched £3,357,531. Prices for the lots above are shown in brackets (including buyer's premium).
—R. Stephenson
(24 April 2004)

A Fine Art auction sale at the salerooms of Lawrences of Crewkerne, Somerset, is set for Wednesday 14 January 2004. Included are 29 Antarctic lots, mostly books (Nos 250-278). Full descriptions at http://www.lawrences.co.uk/Catalogues/Fa140104/page9.htm and http://www.lawrences.co.uk/Catalogues/Fa140104/page10. htm

Some selected and edited highlights (actually most of the lots):

Lot 251. ANTARCTIC EPHEMERA. Printed invitations from Shackleton to view the "Endurance" at the South West India Dock on 8th July 1914, overprinted "Postponed to Thursday, July 16th". — Handbill advertising Shackleton's Moving Pictures show, n.d. — Printed booklet about the "Discovery", 1937 — Ten videos of various television programmes on antarctic expedition, etc. Estimate £30-50. Hammer price £170.

Lot 252. BERNACCHI, LOUIS. To the South Polar Regions Expedition of 1898-1900. 1901 (binding dulled). Photographic plates and two charts, one of them folding at end (lacks one chart). Presentation copy, inscribed by the author to "Mons. Charles P. Lalenpin . . . 1905". — ARMITAGE, ALBERT B. Two Years in the Antarctic. 1905 (rather worn). Illustrations and map. Inscribed on half title "To Sir Edward Letchworth from S. H. Latham Armitage M.P. — MURRAY, JAMES and GEORGE MARSTON. Antarctic Days, 1913 (covers soiled). — DOORLY, Capt. GERALD S. The Voyages of The 'Morning'. 1916. All 8vo., orig. cloth. Illustrated. With four others. (8). Estimate £100-120. Hammer price £1250.

Lot 254. BRITISH ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION TERRA NOVA R.Y.S A.L.S. from Lt. Harry Powell (Master S.Y. Terra Nova) to The Gaumont Co. from Lyttelton, February 25th, n.y. He confirms the agreement that "no cinematograph pictures are allowed to be taken on board by representatives of other firms or private persons..." With T.L.S. on similar headed paper from Edward R.G.R. Evans, 36 Victoria Street London May 30 1913, thanking F. Gent for sending various journals & for the sympathetic message on "the loss of my wife", each on page 8vo. (2). Estimate £50-80. Hammer price £140.

Lot 255. BRUCE, WILLIAM S (Antarctic explorer and naturalist) Manuscript office copy (signed by Bruce) of a letter to Lt. R. J. Gould, R.N., from Oxton, Berwickshire, 25.8.17. Three pages, large 8vo., written on the reverse of "Tow-Netting Record" sheets of the S.Y. Scotia, Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. Bruce refers to Gould's investigations of the Aurora Islands and says he is in touch with Weddell's relatives concerning Weddell's earlier records which may shed some light on the matter. He speculates how Weddell and Ross regarded the Shag Rocks and the Aurora Islands, and whether they had been reported prior to Cook's Voyage in 1762. Estimate £80-120. Hammer price £100.

Lot 258. CHERRY-GARRARD, APSLEY. Three line Autograph note, signed, Oct 26 (1938) to L.E.S. Gutteridge, from Lamer Park, Wheathampstead, Herts. In full: "I'm not surprised. But thank you very much for getting it altered." L.E.S. Gutteridge had seen an incorrect attribution of an artifact at an Antartic display at the British Museum and had persuaded the officials into changing it to the correct collector, Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Estimate £50-80. Hammer price £90.

Lot 259. EVANS, Admiral Sir EDWARD R.G.R. South With Scott. Collins, n.d. Presentation copy from the author "To The Maharaj Kumari of Burdwan With Best Wishes from E.R.G.G.Evans. London Air Raid Blitzkreig 1940". — Turley, Charles. The Voyages of Captain Scott. 1914 — Bernacchi, L.C. Saga of the "Discovery". (1938). — SEAVER, GEORGE. 'Birdie' Bowers of the Antarctic. (1938). With 18 others, mostly concerning Scott's expeditions 8vo., orig. cloth. Illustrated. (22). Estimate £150-250. Hammer price £280.

Lot 263. MARKHAM, Sir CLEMENTS ROBERTS. A.L.S. to an unnamed correspondent 1-1/2pp. 8vo., from 21 Eccleston Square (London) 12 Nov. 1902, responding to an invitation to dinner by the Council of the Society of Yorkshiremen. The Writer was President of the Royal Geographical Society and much involved in the organisation of Antarctic expeditions. Estimate £20-30. Hammer price £35.

Lot 264. MAWSON, Sir DOUGLAS. The Home of the Blizzard. Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914. 2 vols., First Edition, 1915. 8vo., orig. pictorial cloth gilt (slight oxidising to upper cover ills., minimal bruising) Portrait and plates, some coloured, 3 folding maps in rear pocket of vol 2. (2). Estimate £200-400. Hammer price £500.

Lot 265. MILL, HUGH ROBERT. The Siege of the South Pole, the Story of Antarctic Explorations. First Edition, 1905. Maps, diagrams and other illustrations. Presentation copy from the author, inscribed "To the house of Salusbury as a memento shown to members of the British Association at Leicester in August 1907.." —BROWN, R.N. RUDMORE. A Naturalist at the Poles. The Life, Works & Voyages of Dr. W.S. Bruce. First Edition, 1923. d.w. Photographic plates and 3 maps, with 12 others 8vo., orig. cloth. (14). Estimate £120-180. Hammer price £420.

Lot 266. MURDOCH, W.G. BURN. From Edinburgh to The Antarctic. An Artist's Notes and Sketches during the Dundee Antarctic Expedition of 1892-93. First Edition, London and New York 1894. 8vo., orig. pictorial cloth. Folding map at end, coloured chart and text illustrations (some light spotting). Estimate £450-650. Hammer price £380.

Lot 270. SHACKLETON, Sir ERNEST. The Heart of the Antarctic. Being The Story of the British Antarctic Expedition, 1907-1909. Limited Edition, No. 131 of 300 copies. 2 vols., 1909. 4to., cont. vellum gilt, t.e.g., other edges uncut (Vol. 1 with short tear at head of spine, both vols. slightly soiled). Portraits, maps, including four folding in pocket at end of Vol. 2, plates, some coloured; THE ANTARCTIC BOOK WINTER QUARTERS 1907-1909. One of 300 copies, 1909. 4to., orig. vellum backed boards, t.e.g., other edges uncut. Four mounted coloured portraits and six etched plates. Signed by the members of the shore party, including Shackleton, Mawson etc. (3). See illustration. Estimate £6,000-8,000. Hammer price £6400.

Lot 271. SHACKLETON, Sir ERNEST. The Heart of The Antarctic . . . New and Revised Edition . . . Popular Edition, Heinemann, 1910. 8vo., orig. cloth gilt, t.e.g. Portrait frontis. signed by Shackleton and F. A. Worsley, colour plates and other illustrations, folding map at end (torn and repaired). Originally the property of F. Gent of Sydney, an Australian organiser to British Antarctic expeditions (see also lot 254), whose name appears on front flyleaf, dated 1912. With signatures on flyleaf and half title of Mawson, Simpson, Joyce, Davis, Ponting, Priestley, Wild and Edgeworth David (these two leaves loose). With photograph of Frank Hurley and another man [probably Ponting] holding a toy penguin pasted to verso of upper cover. Newspaper cuttings pasted in at end. See illustration. Estimate £2,000-3,000. Hammer price £1800.

Lot 273. SHACKLETON, Sir ERNEST. A.L.S. to "My dear Aunt Trottie". from 14 Milnthorpe Road. Monday, n.d. One page, 8vo. Regretting that they cannot come to lunch with her that day. With another half page of writing paper, 7 Heathview Gardens, Putney Heath, signed by Shackleton and inscribed "B.A.E. 1907-09". (2). Estimate £100-200. Hammer price £360.

Lot 274. SHACKLETON, Sir ERNEST. Mill, Hugh Robert. The Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton. 1923. Presentation copy inscribed, "To Mr. Edmund Gosse In Remembrance from Emily Shackleton". With an A.L.S. from Lady Shackleton to the same loosely inserted "I wonder if you have seen Dr Mill's "Life" of Ernest, if not, may i send you a copy..." One page, 8vo., 18th Dec. n.y. — Joyce, Ernest E. Mills. The South Polar Trail. 1929. With 5 others on the same. 8vo., orig. cloth, some in d.ws. Illustrated. (7). Estimate £150-200. Hammer price £580.

Lot 275. THE SOUTH POLAR TIMES. April to August 1902 and April to August 1903. 2 vols., 1907. Edited by Shackleton. Limited Edition, No. 133 of 250 copies. 4to., orig. pictorial cloth gilt, a.e.g., d.ws. Coloured plates and other illustrations (gutta-percha perished in vol 1, with some leaves loose, half title and frontis. in vol 1 slightly frayed at lower edge d.ws. worn). (2). Covers very bright and clean. Estimate £1000-1500. Hammer price £4600.

Lot 276. SUMMER IN THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS; A Narrative of Voyages of Discovery Towards the South Pole. S.P.C.K., 1848. 16mo., orig. cloth gilt (slight wear to head and tail of spine). Folding map and illustrations. Estimate £40-60. Hammer price £80.

Lot 277. WEDDELL, JAMES. A Voyage Towards The South Pole, Performed in the Years 1822-24. Second Edition, With Observations on The Probability of Reaching the South Pole. 1827. 8vo., orig. sheep backed boards (joints cracked). Hand coloured frontispiece. 8 engraved maps. 6 of them folding, (one torn). 2 engraved figures and 6 aquatints, 2 of them folding (some staining and spotting, library stamp on title) Signature of Wm. S. Bruce, Edinburgh 1905 on front flyleaf (the explorer and naturalist). Estimate £600-800. Hammer price £1200.

Lot 278. WILD, Cdr. FRANK. Shackleton's Last Voyage. The Story of the Quest. From the Official Journal and Private Diary kept by Dr. A.H.Macklin First Edition, London and New York etc., 1923. 8vo., orig. cloth gilt. (extremities just spotted) Coloured frontispiece, maps and other illustrations. Estimate £100-200. Hammer price £270.

—Thanks to Jonathan Shackleton.
(12 January 2004)

The estimates seems very low to me, some VERY low. It will be interesting to see what these lots actually fetch.
—R. Stephenson
(12 January 2004)

UPDATE: The total for the Antarctic lots (250-278) was £22,465. Most lots sold above estimate. The 3 volume edition deluxe of The Heart of the Antarctic fetched the highest, £6,400, followed by the first two volumes of the South Polar Times, £4,600.
—R. Stephenson
(15 January 2004)

Morton & Eden of London will auction on 3 October 2003 several polar medals including Tom Crean's Antarctic medal from Scott's Discovery expedition. Morton & Eden, 45 Maddox Street, London W1S 2PE. Tel: 020 7493 5344.E-mail: info@mortonandeden.com. Web: www.mortonandeden.com (Apparently they do not include an on-line catalogue; printed catalogues are £10). The time of the auction is not given on their webpage.

Crean's medal is described as: "Polar Medal, Edward VII silver issue, 1 clasp, Antarctic 1902-04, A.B. T. Crean, "Discovery", good very fine. Estimate £12,000-15,000. Tom Crean's original single-clasp medal for Scott's First Expedition."

From various press releases:

Crean was later to be awarded the Albert Medal for his part in saving the life of "Teddy" Evans (subsequently Lord Mountevans) on the return march after leaving Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Oates and "Taff" Evans to make their ill-fated attempt on the South Pole; he also received a duplicate two-clasp Polar medal on the same occasion. His third and final clasp was earned during the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1914-16 and the Elephant Island rescue, when he accompanied Shackleton on the epic voyage of the James Caird and the crossing of South Georgia.

The Polar Medal Roll records that this medal—Tom Crean's original silver award for the 1902-04 Discovery Expedition, with single clasp and engraved naming—was forwarded on 19th December 1905 to the Ganges, where Crean was briefly stationed. The Roll further states that a duplicate medal was supplied to Commander E.R.G.R. Evans on 20th July 1913 (Evans having taken charge of the 1910-13 Expedition following the death of Scott). This two-clasp replacement, with impressed naming 174699 T. CREAN A.B. DISCOVERY, was presented to Crean at Buckingham Palace on 26th July together with his Albert Medal (awarded to both Crean and Lashly for saving Evans's life). Crean was later to earn a third clasp to his Polar medal for Shackleton's Expedition of 1914-16, as well as his Great War service and Naval Long Service & Good Conduct medals. The complete group, which also contains his R.G.S. awards, is currently housed at the Kerry County Museum.

It is not known precisely why a replacement Polar medal was authorised. It is possible that the original was simply not to hand in 1913 (at home in Ireland, perhaps) for the addition of a second clasp, so Commander Evans simply decided to order a complete new medal. Alternatively Crean may, like his Discovery colleague and great friend Edgar "Taff" Evans, have sold his medal to raise funds during the difficult and uncertain years preceding the 1910 Terra Nova Expedition.

Polar Medal - singles:
1. Bronze, no clasp, J. Cooper, "Terra Nova", 1903-4
2. Silver, 1 clasp Antarctic 1902-04, A.B. T. Crean, "Discovery" [see above]
3. Bronze, no clasp, E. Murphy, Fireman, "Aurora", 1917
4. Silver, 1 clasp Antarctic 1957-58, Leonard Constantine, Esq.

Polar Medals - pairs and/or in groups:
1. Silver, 1 clasp Antarctic 1910-13, A.S. Bailey, P.O. 2CL., "Terra Nova", with R.G.S. bronze medal, 1913, named; in group with 1914-15 star, B.W.M., Victory medal (M.i.D.) and Naval L.S.G.C.
2. Pair: Bronze, 1 clasp Antarctic 1929-31 and silver, 1 clasp Antarctic 1935-37, to James H(amilton) Martin [K.I.A. 1940]
3. Pair in group: Bronze, 1 clasp Antarctic 1929-39 and silver, 1 clasp Antarctic 1944-45 to Alfred T(homas) Berry; with B.W.M., Mercantile Marine medal, stars for 1939-45, Atlantic, Africa (cl. North Africa 1942-43) and Pacific, and 1939-45 War Medal

U.S.A., Byrd Antarctic Expedition Medal, 1928-30
1. Gold, named to Carroll B. Foster Jr. (also in named case)

—Thanks to Michael Smith
(2 September 2003)

6 lots of Antarctic interest including the medals of Thomas Kennar and a Discovery clock. Results in bold exclusive of Buyer's Premium and sales tax.

63. POLAR AND ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY MEDALS TO THOMAS KENNAR, "DISCOVERY" Polar Medal. Estimate: £2,000 to 2,500. £6,800
64. NATIONAL ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION, 1901-04 Ship's clock from Discovery, cream dial with single winding hole, Roman numerals signed ""The Discovery" leads to Discovery 1901 to 1904". Estimate: £4,000 to 5,000. £6,200
65. SHACKLETON (Sir ERNEST HENRY) Autograph letter signed, to Kennar's mother, following Shackleton's return after being invalided from Scott's first expedition, and while he was working on the logistics of organising a relief ship. Estimate: £500 to 700. £1,200
66. SHACKLETON (Sir ERNEST HENRY) Typed letter signed, to Thomas Kennar, thanking him for his good wishes for Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition. Estimate: £300 to 400. £950
67. PONTING (HERBERT GEORGE) The Terra Nova at the Ice-foot, Cape Evans, a very large well-toned green carbon print. £3,000 to 4,000. Did not sell.
68. PONTING (HERBERT) Series of sixteen fine original photographs. Estimate: £1,500 to 2,000. £3,600

The next sale with any polar lots is a Travel and Natural History Sale (No 9621) set for Thursday 8 May 2003 at South Kensington (85 Old Brompton Road, London). The sale begins at 10:30.
Web: http://www.christies.com/LotFinder/search/lotsummary.asp?intSaleID= 18277

There are only 4 Antarctic lots: Burn Murdoch's From Edinburgh to the Antarctic, 1894; a Ponting photograph of Wilson sketching; Volume III only of The South Polar Times, 1914; and Frank Stokes' Blue Berg painting (which was also in Polar Sale, September 25, 2001, and failed to sell). Not very exciting, but apparently there will be far more of interest in 25 September 2003 sale (Exploration and Travel, King Street).
—R. Stephenson
(18 April 2003)

The next Polar Sale (No 6624) is set for 25 September 2002 at King Street, London. Sale sessions at 10:30 and 2:30.
Web: http://www.christies.com/auction/calendar/auction_calendar.asp?scid=& month=9&year=2002&location=36
(9 May 2002)

UPDATE: Rumors have recently been circulating about Christie's September sale: Yes, Neil Silverman's collection is headed to the saleroom! Here's some of what Tom Lamb of Christie's had to say about it in a recent e-mail:

"The formal title of the sale is 'The Polar Sale including the Neil M Silverman Collection'. All the books objects and photographs will take up the morning session of the sale on the 25th September. The afternoon session (all one catalogue) will include mixed owner properties including many artefacts from the Shackleton expeditions....
Other sales taking place around this will be an Exploration and Travel sale [on] September 26th, and on the 24th 'The Africa sale including the Henry Morton Stanley Collection' which is a fantastic group of his mementoes of his African travels (books, photographs, objects, etc.), but all from rather hotter climes than the Polar regions...."

Here's what another collector e-mailed recently:

"...it is confirmed that roughly 80% of his holdings will be auctioned at the ...sale.... I'm sure there will be plenty of bidders, however, who will pay just about anything for what they want."

UPDATE: No sign of the catalogue yet, although the catalogue for the Freycinet Collection, to be sold the next day, arrived the other day.

—R. Stephenson
(25 August 2002)

UPDATE: "I gather from the Christie's press office that the catalogue is in the post.It will no doubt arrive tomorrow. Meanwhile they have sent a press release...looks like there is a huge amount of stuff being auctioned including Queen Alexandra's standard given to Shackleton on the Endurance expedition, one of Scott's sledging flags from the Terra Nova which Silverman bought at the Scott Relics sale and loads of other things (Brocklehurst's unpublished diary, Scott's manuscript instructions to Meares before the sledging journey, Levick's autograph journal from the first season recording meeting Amundsen to name but a few!."

"Just got the catalogue (a whopping 335 pages of it)... wow... there is a lot of stuff.. I love the Cherry painting and the Stokes one but haven't had time to look at it all in detail."

—From recent e-mails from Wendy Driver, London.
(29 and 30 August 2002)

POST SALE REPORT: This sale was different in mood and results from previous polar sales. First, there were fewer people in the room, particularly in the morning (a tube strike may have been a factor). Second, more than half the lots didn't sell, i.e. didn't reach their reserves. Third, the estimates seemed to be higher than reasonable. The Christie's people didn't seem very pleased.

The Scott Polar Research Institute managed to get four lots: No 128 (autograph diary of Alf Cheetham, 3rd officer on Shackleton's Nimrod [£9500 hammer price versus estimate of £10,000 - 15,000]); No 174 (autograph letter of instruction from Robert Scott to Cecil Meares, 30 September 1911 [£19,000 hammer price versus £20,000 - 30,000 estimate]); No 244 (autograph manuscript of Leonard Hussey signed 'Shackleton-Rowett Expedition / The Voyage of the Quest' [£11,000 hammer price versus £8,000 - 10,000 estimate]); and No 316 (autograph diary of S. B. Riches, Nimrod expedition [£14,000 hammer price versus £7,000 - 10,000]). Frank Debenham's autograph journal 'Diary of Western Journey... 1911' was purchased by the Debenham family and one or more Antarctic organizations. The highest price paid was for the silk Royal Standard presented to Shackleton by Queen Alexandra, £100,000 hammer price against an estimate of £100,000 - 150,000. Unclear to me who the buyer was but quite possibly the National Maritime Museum.

The sale totalled £788,515 on 213 lots sold out of a total of 397 (i.e. 46% remained unsold). (The previous polar sale [Zust sale 9 May 2002] brought in £777,586 on 203 lots sold.) For a complete listing of prices realized, go to: http://www.christies.com/auction/results/results_lotlist.asp?saleno= CKS6624

Comment from Christie's (Nicholas Lambourn, Specialist in charge of the sale): "Shackleton led the way today with the Royal Standard, presented to the explorer by Queen Alexandra, which sold for £116,650. Rare Antarctic books in good condition sold well but the market did not respond as strongly, as in the past, for Polar art and artefacts."

Here are some comments received by e-mail from those in the room: "I missed the morning session but caught up with the prices during the afternoon. Obviously it was a shame that so few people were bidding, but it cannot be unexpected that prices would dive with so much familiar material returning to the auction room so quickly. It echoed the pattern of every other area of collecting where recently sold material often fails to find a buyer the second time around..."

And another: "My take on the auction(s) is something like this.... Quality books got great prices and seem not to have been much affected by tenuous financial markets. Average quality non-rare or non-distinguished books got average prices when they sold. And there's much we can't assess because the high reserves of many lots were so high."

There are a few Antarctic lots in the Travel and Natural History Sale set for 10:30 on Thursday, 30 May 2002, at 85 Old Brompton Road, South Kensington. Lots 1-4 and 6 relate to Cook and his Second Voyage. Lots 18 and 19 relate to Dumont D'Urville (including 2 volumes of Atlas Pittoresque, incomplete, with an estimate of £8,000 to £12,000).

The next Polar Sale is set for 25 September 2002 at King Street.
(9 May 2002)

According to Tom Lamb of Christie's, "...we have a polar collection selling May 9th [2002] with a substantial library of polar books both north and south, in total approximately 2,500 books and also a fine selection of Polar art and photography, Ponting, Hurley, etc. We will also have a polar section as part of our main Exploration and Travel sale on September 26th, with memorabilia and ephemera, books and pictures [both at King Street and South Kensington]."
(13 December 2001)

UPDATE: A recent mailing describes the 9 May sale as "The Polar Collection of Andreas Züst." This mailing also notes a Polar Sale scheduled for the Wednesday 25 September, the day before the Exploration and Travel sale.

UPDATE: "Just got the press release . . . basically I think it will be mostly books covering both Arctic and Antarctic including Shackleton's Aurora Australis (estimate up to £35,000) and loads of Ponting photos including 12 large gelatin silver prints issued in 1913 (£40,000). Also paintings, and artefacts although no details."
—From an e-mail from Wendy Driver.
(27 March 2002)

UPDATE: The catalogue arrived the other day. The sale begins at 2:00 pm May 9th with viewing 2 and 3 May and 7, 8 and 9 May. There are 237 lots, some of which are multiple items. The order of sale is as follows: The Arctic: Early Voyages (lots 1-26), The Search for the Northwest Passage (27-48), The Franklin Search Expeditions, 1850-1860 (49-67), Arctic Expeditions after 1860 (68-92), and Arctic Literature (93-137). Antarctica: Early Voyages (138-158), The Heroic Age (159-237).

Here are some of the Antarctic highlights, with estimates and prices realized (including 17.5% buyer's premium) in pounds:

149. James Weddell. Voyage towards the South Pole..., 1825. First edition. [£1000-1500].£1792
154. Charles Wilkes. Narrative of the US Exploring Expedition..., 1845. Third issue. 6 volumes. [£1000-1500]. £1195
160. Concerning the German South Polar expedition (Drygalski). A group of manuscripts, drawings, letters, etc. [£3000-5000]. £6572
161. Erich von Drygalski. Deutsche Südpolar-Expedition, 1905-31, 20 volumes. "An extremely rare complete series of official reports" from the expedition. [£10,000-15,000]. Did not sell.
166. George Murray. The Antarctic Manual, 1901. [£1000-1500]. £2868
169 and 170. G.S. Doorly. The Voyages of the 'Morning'. [£1500-2000 (with The Songs of the Morning, as well) and £700-1000]. 169 did not sell; 170: £836
172 and 173. Two signed watercolors by Edward A. Wilson. [both £4000-6000] Did not sell.
174. "A very fine set" of the South Polar Times, 1907-14, 3 volumes. [£10,000-15,000]. £20,315
175. George Mulock. Charts of the Discovery Expedition, 1908. Scott's copy. [£2000-3000]. £4182
181. Ernest Mills Joyce. Album of 90 photographs from Nimrod expedition. [£2000-3000]. £3107
182. Sir Ernest Shackleton, editor. Aurora Australis, 1908. Signed by Shackleton and Marston. [£28,000-35,000]. £47,800
184. Sir Ernest Shackleton. Heart of the Antarctic, 1909. Edition de luxe, 3 volumes. Presentation copy. [£5000-8000]. £16,730
189 and 190. James Murray and George Marston. Antarctic Days; Sketches of the Homely Side of Polar Life, 1913. Edition de luxe, signed by authors and Shackleton. [both £1200-1800]. £1912 and £2629
191-211. All Ponting photographs, including some albums, estimates ranging from £400 to 40,000]. Highest, Lot 208: £9560
216. Apsley Cherry-Garrard. Worst Journey in the World, 1922, First Edition. Along with the Postscript, 1951. Volume II has the very rare dustjacket. [£1000-1500]. £3107
218. William Lashly. Diary, 1938-39. [£500-800]. £4780
221. [Douglas Mawson]. Midwinter Dinner. Menu. (Mawson's copy.) Featuring a Hurley photograph. [£3000-5000]. Did not sell.
223-226. All Hurley photographs, estimates ranging from £1000 to 40,000]. Highest, Lot 225: £8365

The catalogue contains a two-page essay by Martin Jaeggi on Andreas Züst (1947-2000), the Swiss meteorologist who developed this collection and who seems to have been an extraordinarily interesting person.

TWO EVENTS associated with the sale are described in the catalogue: Joanna Wright, Curator of Photography at the Royal Geographical Society, will speak on Pioneer Photographers in the Polar Regions on Tuesday, May 7th at 6:30 pm at Christie's, 8 King Street, St. James's, London. On Thursday, May 2nd Don McCullin will lecture on Journeys Through the Lens at the Royal Geographical Society at 7:00 pm (bar opens at 6:00 pm). Sponsored by Christie's and in aid of The Christina Noble Children's Foundation. Tickets at £15 are available from the CNCF with s.a.e., 11-15 Lillie Road, London SW6 1TX. Tel: 020 7386 9376.
—R. Stephenson
(16 April 2002)

UPDATE: Some early reports. Several leading collectors were present as well as such dealers as Renard, High Latitude, Barbara Grigor-Taylor, Sotherans and presumably many more. A London dealer just e-mailed to say: "It was an odd sale. Good items were making more than enough—£40,000 for the Aurora (+ nearly £8000 premium!), £14,000 for the limited edition Heart of the Antarctic, but the Drygalski reports didn't sell... Some of the lots are not selling—the Doorly's did badly, but then they were nasty copies."

Another opinion from a friend in the room: "...most things hardly reached it [the low estimate] or didn't sell.... It was a very quiet sale with no excitement at all. I wonder if everyone is waiting until September. Two of the Wilson paintings didn't sell and the Ponting photos were only going for £2,000-3000! Amazing when you think the Ice Cave sold for £22,000 three years ago!"

The prices realized are now up on the Christie's website: http://www.christies.com/auction/results/auction_results.asp

Among the Antarctic lots, 18 did not sell. The average for 104 lots was £7477. The highest in the sale was the Aurora Australis (lot 182) at £47,800; the lowest at £478 was lot 210, 'Exhibition of the Photographic Pictures of Herbert G. Ponting.' (All the above include the 17.5% buyer's premium.) Note: Prices including premiums have been inserted above.]

I bid on one item and was successful and quite surprised to get it despite it being five times the high estimate, by far the highest multiple in the sale. Either I'm stupid or highly discerning!
—R. Stephenson
(9 May 2002)

A recent mailing (March 2001) from Christie's, the auction house, announced two upcoming sales of interest to polar collectors: The first is set for the 25 September 2001 ("our first [book] sale devoted to Polar Exploration") and the second for the day following, 26 September, 'Exploration and Travel,' the next in its popular series inaugurated in 1996, "...combining pictures, books, manuscripts and artifacts..." Both are in London at the King Street rooms. For more information go to www.christies.com or contact Tom Lamb [TLamb@christies.com], Head of the London Book Department for the former, or Nick Lambourn [NLambourn@christies.com] for the latter.

NOTE: The sale on the 26th and the 28th of September contains no polar material.

An e-mail from Tom Lamb tells more: "This year we are putting together a series of travel sales in the last week of September. On September 25th a Polar sale, September 26th Exploration and Travel and on September 28th a Travel sale at our South Kensington rooms. [Those who subscribe to catalogues in the Exploration and Travel series will receive catalogues] for these three. ... The April sale this year was postponed until September, but we are planning to have sales both in April and September next year. Depending on the success of the Polar sale we may well concentrate this material into a single specialist sale once a year."

NOTE: Wendy Driver reports from London [15 August] that the catalogue for the book sale is "HUGE!".

UPDATE: My catalogue arrived on the 22nd and Wendy's right...it is huge. 355 pages, 250 lots. Lots 1-28 are "Arctic;" Lots 29-128 (Part I) are referred to as 'The Shackleton Collection'—with a 3pp informative essay by Bob Headland entitled "Shackletoniana," and Lots 129 through 250 (Part II) as 'The Heroic Age.' The sale starts at 2 pm, so assuming a lot a minute, it will be past 6 pm when things wind down. I commented after the last sale (see below; Travel and Exploration Sale, 21 September 2000) that the attics must be bare at this point, but I was wrong. The Shackleton family has opened its attic doors; so too the Macklins.

Overview: Shackleton and Macklin family photographs, letters, documents, memorabilia and such, abound in this sale. Also, lots of Marston and Wilson art, Hurley and Ponting photographs and albums (photographic and otherwise). The sale includes an inordinate number of menus (Savage Club, Authors Club, Wellington Club, Union Club, Explorers Club, Transportation Club, etc. There's one lot—51—that includes over 20!) Antarctic explorers, when not south, ate out every night and well. Look at Lot 66: Shackleton's engagements for a month in 1909—every night a dinner, not to mention lunch, too. Even when south, they didn't do too badly: Lot 43 is a menu for a sumptuous repast on the 'Morning.' No sledge rations these! Could this have been designed to soften the blow for the homeward-bound Shackleton?

Some highlights that caught my eye (with winning bids including buyer's premium in bold:

Lot 46. South Polar Times, vols I and II. Inscribed by Shackleton (the editor of vol I) to Emily, his wife (estimate: £6,000-8,000). £21,150.
Lot 53: Aurora Australis. Lady Shackleton's copy (estimate: £25,000-35,000). £35,250.
Lot 55: Another copy, the 'Kidney Soup' copy, presented by Shackleton to his daughter (estimate: £20,000-30,000). £30,550.
Lot 58: Shackleton's sledge harness used in reaching 'Farthest South' (estimate: £6,000-8,000). £11,162.50.
Lot 60: Two pieces from Shackleton's 'Farthest South' sledge (estimate: £1,000-2,000). £940
Lot 73: Shackleton's copy of the Limited Edition of the 'The Heart of the Antarctic' with the Antarctic Book (estimate: £5,000-8,000). £12,925.
Lot 99: An ivory and elephant seal (?) tooth letter opener with silver mount, engraved: 'SHACKLETON ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION 1914-16' (estimate: £1,500-2,500). £5,640.
Lot 136: R.F. Scott's autograph log as midshipman on HMS Euphrates, Boadicea, Royal Adelaide, Liberty, Monarch and Rover, 1883-1887, ca. 482 pp (estimate: £30,000-40,000). Reached £23,000 but did not sell.
Lot 142: National Antarctic Expedition Scrapbook compiled by Sir Clements Markham, 1901-04 (estimate: £10,000-15,000). £9,400.
Lot 151: National Antarctic Expedition, scientific results in 12 volumes (estimate: £4,000-6,000). £9,400.
Lot 173: Atkinson's sister's album of 449 photographs of the Terra Nova expedition by Herbert Ponting (estimate: £80,000-120,000). HIGHEST ESTIMATE OF THE SALE. Reached £65,000 but did not sell.
Lot 174: Wilson watercolour of Mount Erebus (estimate: £6,000-8,000). Reached £5,500 but did not sell.
Lot 178: Collection of letters, manuscripts, photographs, etc., collected by Caroline Oates related to her son, Captain Oates, contained in a tin deed box with the initials 'L.E.G.O.' (estimate: £20,000-30,000). £21,150.
Lot 185: Set of 57 glass lantern slides illustrating Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole (estimate: £10,000-15,000). £12,925.
Lot 195: Dr Macklin's autograph manuscript journal kept during the Endurance expedition (estimate: £50,000-60,000). THIRD HIGHEST ESTIMATE OF THE SALE. £104,950 Highest price realized. Went to Scott Polar Research Institute..
Lot 211: Frank Worsley's typescript of his Endurance expedition journal (estimate: £6,000-8,000). Reached £4,000 but did not sell.
Lot 232: Macklin's archive of the Quest Expedition (estimate: £60,000-80,000). SECOND HIGHEST ESTIMATE OF THE SALE. £100,550. Went to Scott Polar Research Institute.

A word to the wise: The catalogue for the present sale—which includes numerous photographs not previously published—will no doubt go out of print quickly judging from what happened with some of the past 'Exploration and Travel' sales.
—R. Stephenson

Both Tom Lamb and Nick Lambourn said at the sale that there will be another Polar sale within the next year, tentatively set for 10 May 2002. NOTE: This has changed (as of 11 December 2001): According to Tom Lamb, "...we have a polar collection selling May 9th [2002] with a substantial library of polar books both north and south, in total approximately 2,500 books and also a fine selection of Polar art and photography, Ponting, Hurley, etc. We will also have a polar section as part of our main Exploration and Travel sale on September 26th, with memorabilia and ephemera, books and pictures."
—R. Stephenson

RESULTS: This sale was well-attended with occasional spirited bidding...and long: starting at 2pm, ending at 5:20pm. Many items, however, either didn't sell or did so below estimate. Of course, those I was interested in all went far above their estimates so I came away empty handed (two that would have been nice to have were lot 54, the midwinter celebration program, with an estimate of £1000-1500, which went for £9,987.50; and lot 186A, the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Prospectus, also with an estimate of £1000-1500, which went for £7,637.50). But friends did better. The total sold amounted to 197 lots out of 252 (78%) bringing £1,036,061 (a single lot—a necklace—brought substantially more two days later in the same room!). Scott Polar Research Institute ended up with the Macklin journal (lot 195) and the Quest Archive (lot 232) and is due to get a couple of other lots through gift. The Mitchell Library got a second Quest archive; Dulwich College, a collection of James Caird photographs (lot 96); and the Athy Heritage Center, Ireland, a Shackleton wooden birdcage (lot 42).
Among those seen at the sale or at the pub across the road before or after: Hugh Bett, Ben Burdett, Cathy Cooper, Wendy Driver, Bob Headland, Sue Kiner, Richard Kossow, Stuart Leggatt, Sandy Macklin, Jonathan Mandelbaum, Jim McCarthy, Rhod McEwan, William Mills, John Maggs, Margot Morrell, Jan Piggott, Roger Putt, Keith Richards, Alexandra Shackleton, Jonathan Shackleton, John Simper, Judy Skelton, Kelly Tyler and David Wilson.
—R. Stephenson