Antarctic Books

Antarctic Booklist 

BOOK AND CD 

Music from Antarctica

ISBN: 9781873877524

£14.99

These songs and poems were composed during the Relief Voyage of the British National Antarctic Expedition of 1901-1904. The music was composed by Lieut. G.S. Doorly and the lyrics by Chief Engineer Morrison and other officers, including Ernest Shackleton. 

The CD is a result of collaboration by New Zealand musicians and actors to mark the centenary of the voyage of the "Morning" to relieve Captain Scott and company aboard the "Discovery" in 1902. The royalties for this publication are being divided between the Dundee Heritage Trust's Antartic 100 "Discovery" Restoration Fund for work on the restoration of "Discovery", and the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust for preservation work on the expedition's hut and its contents.

ISBN: 9781873877524

Polar Crean

isbn 9781901037197

£30.00

This is a first edition case bound hardback, which contains a number of Photographs and maps of Antarctica which appeared with a Tom Crean feature after his death by Dennis Barry.

 The rest of the book contains photos showing Discovery just fitted out from

the News and Views section in the Black and White Budget Magazine 1901,

The exploration of the South Pole. The wonders of the coming Discovery as part of Anglo-Germanic Expedition by Sir Henry Leach.

 Sport in the Antarctic: The games that were played by the Men of the “Discovery” by Bernard C. Carter 

and Animal Life in the Antarctic by S Kemp

Discovery Illustrated

isbn 9781873877487

£45

Dog Days on Ice

isbn 9781873877890

£14.99

"Dog Days on Ice" is the personal account of one man's experience of a truly golden era for exploration. Much has been archived about the scientific achievements involved, but Peter Noble concentrates on the human experience of life on the ice in the 1960s. Through his account of a 600 mile dog sledge journey and two of the longest and biggest expeditions ever undertaken by the British Antarctic Survey, he tells of the pleasures and pitfalls, the humour and hardships, and also reflects on life back on the remote base of 'Halley Bay'. His story is one of Huskies, of camping on ice, of blizzards and crevasses, of the cold, of amazing atmospheric conditions, of sledge building, puppy rearing and expedition planning, of remote mountains, of disappointment and ultimate success - of what it was like to live on the Antarctic continent for two years.Perched on the floating Brunt Ice Shelf on the east side of the Weddell Sea, Halley Bay was ideally situated for not just its glaciological and atmospheric research but also for geographical exploration.

With Scott Before the Mast

Isbn 9781901037555

£45.00

These are the Journals of Francis Davies Leading Shipwright RN when on board Captain Scott's "Terra Nova" British Antarctic Expedition 1910 - 1913, Never seen before photos and historical artefacts, kept safe by his decadences, for over 100 years. Unique below decks prospective on Captains Scotts last Antarctic Expedition, Unabridged and never before Published. The geographic and scientific accomplishments of Captain Scott's two Antarctic expeditions changed the face of the Twentieth Century in ways that are still not widely appreciated over a hundred years later. The fact of accomplishment has tended to be lost in speculative argument as to how Scott should have done this instead of that, supposedly to achieve the extra few yards per day to save the lives of the South Pole Party in 1912. Also lost to a generation overwhelmed with information, however, is the sublime sense of adventure into the unknown, which Scott's expeditions represented to his generation. We have forgotten what it is to take the awesome life-gambling risk of sailing beyond the edge of the map into nothingness and rendering it known. We send robot explorers instead. As a result, after two millennia of maritime and exploration history, we have become detached from the sea which surrounds our island and the tradition of exploration which it represents. With Scott: Before the Mast is a unique account that serves as an antidote to this disconectedness. It is no fictional 'Hornblower', although it may seem so at times. This is a true story. It presents one man's account of his part in a great act of derring-do, the assault on the South Pole in 1912. Most records of Captain Scott's British Antarctic Expedition aboard Terra Nova (1910-1913) are the accounts of officers. With Scott: Before the Mast is the story of Francis Davies, Shipwright, R.N., and Carpenter. The title says it all but may be lost on landlubbers. Before the mast means 'to serve as an ordinary seaman in a sailing ship'. This makes it a rare and hugely important account, presenting a viewpoint from the lower ranks. Such insight is rarely available and the long overdue publication of this account is greatly to be welcomed.

The Antarctic Journals

isbn 9781873877685

£60

Nature Notebooks

isbn 9781873877708

£45

Nimrod Illustrated

isbn 

£45.00

Antarctic Notebooks

isbn 9781874192510

£45

Nazi Antarctic Exploration

isbn 9781901037081

£29.99

This Fully illustrated book covers Germany in Antarctica from the 1900s to the 1940s, starting with Erich von Drygalsky’s 1901 Gauss expedition, then on to the 1939 Schwabenland Expedition which is well covered in the book with many never seen before photographs.

First Day Covers

£39.99

£29.99

 High Quality Facsimiles of some famous and hard to find books

Hitler Est Vivant

isbn 9781901037067

£35

This wonderful hardback facsimile is of a now rare book published in Paris, France in 1947 in paperback form and written in French by Ladislas Szabo a Hungarian born Argentine living in Argentina at the end of the Second World War. All the stories of Hitler escaping to Germany first started with this book, as it explains in detail how Hitler using a phantom convoy of U-boats was able to flee Europe and reach the relative safety of South America, and then on to Antarctica. 

This is this book that the Ex Captain of U-Boat 977, Heinz Schaeffer talks about in his 1952 book "U-Boat 977" where he talks about surprisingly discovering that his was one of the ships named to have helped Hitler reach to Antarctica. The book goes on to give details on Nazi underground bases in Antarctica, again from this one book you will see how all the movies showing Hitler and Nazi bases hidden in Antarctica were created even leading up to the later stories and conspiracy theories of the Americans being attacked by Nazi UFOs the Wunderwaffe during Operation HighJump. 

Life in the Antarctic 

isbn 9781901037166

£20

This Facsimile has been created from the original 1907 first edition, each page professionally scanned.  

An Original paperback edition is now very hard to find and expensive due to its rarity.

 

With our Edition we have been able to create a far superior product making it a hardback and using high quality paper so the photos are clear and stand out from the pages. 

Like English Gentlemen

isbn 9781901037173

£30

This facsimile has been created from an original 1913 edition, a now scarce work first published in the year of Scott's death during the Terra Nova expedition of 1910-1913.

 

This book tells the tragic true story of the fate of Scott of the Antarctic and his companions on the return trip from the South Pole.

It was written anonymously by Sir John Ernest Hodder-Williams, or Sir James Matthew Barrie, for Scott's son Peter, with the object at the time of raising funds for the child following his father's death.

The Polar Book isbn 9781901037180

£35                       

The Polar Book created as a facsimile of a now very scarce publication for the British Polar Exhibition of 1930 that celebrated the history of Polar discoveries and expeditions of the day. 

This is the first edition as a case bound hardback, complete with two coloured maps designed by John Bartholomew. 

This book celebrates Polar discoveries and expeditions, with chapters on the history of Polar discoveries, geophysics, geology, flora and fauna along with equipment needed and used at the time. 

For Antarctic Book Collectors

 

We produce an interesting selection of books on Antarctica, and along with the high quality casebound (hardback) we have also produced some very special limited edition books books, and when we say limited we mean limited of just a one off printing of between 150 – 500 world wide, depending upon book.

 

Hand Finished.

 

Leather Bound.

 

Silk Ribbon and Book Mark.

 

Slip Case.

 

Signed and Numbered

Cheltenham in Antartctica, 

The life of Edward Wilson 

ISBN 9781873877548

£45   500 copies

Edward Adrian Wilson is perhaps the most famous native son of Cheltenham. In the early years of the 20th century, he was one of the major influences and personalities of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration and has also been recognised as one of the top ranking ornithologists and naturalists in the UK during this period. He was also one of the last great scientific expedition artists. This is the illustrated story of polar explorer Edward Wilson, from his boyhood in Cheltenham to the diaries and letters associated with his last days as a member of Scott's ill-fated Antarctic expedition. All the royalties from this book will benefit the Wilson Collection Fund at the Cheltenham Art Gallery and Museums.

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Special Leather Bound, 

Hand Finished, 

Limited Editions 

160 copies

With Scott Before the Mast

Special Edition

isbn: 9781901037692

160 copies

£175

These are the Journals of Francis Davies Leading Shipwright RN when on board Captain Scott's "Terra Nova" British Antarctic Expedition 1910 - 1913, Never seen before photos and historical artefacts, kept safe by his decadences, for over 100 years. Unique below decks prospective on Captains Scotts last Antarctic Expedition, Unabridged and never before Published. The geographic and scientific accomplishments of Captain Scott's two Antarctic expeditions changed the face of the Twentieth Century in ways that are still not widely appreciated over a hundred years later. The fact of accomplishment has tended to be lost in speculative argument as to how Scott should have done this instead of that, supposedly to achieve the extra few yards per day to save the lives of the South Pole Party in 1912. Also lost to a generation overwhelmed with information, however, is the sublime sense of adventure into the unknown, which Scott's expeditions represented to his generation. We have forgotten what it is to take the awesome life-gambling risk of sailing beyond the edge of the map into nothingness and rendering it known. We send robot explorers instead. As a result, after two millennia of maritime and exploration history, we have become detached from the sea which surrounds our island and the tradition of exploration which it represents. With Scott: Before the Mast is a unique account that serves as an antidote to this disconectedness. It is no fictional 'Hornblower', although it may seem so at times. This is a true story. It presents one man's account of his part in a great act of derring-do, the assault on the South Pole in 1912. Most records of Captain Scott's British Antarctic Expedition aboard Terra Nova (1910-1913) are the accounts of officers. With Scott: Before the Mast is the story of Francis Davies, Shipwright, R.N., and Carpenter. The title says it all but may be lost on landlubbers. Before the mast means 'to serve as an ordinary seaman in a sailing ship'. This makes it a rare and hugely important account, presenting a viewpoint from the lower ranks. Such insight is rarely available and the long overdue publication of this account is greatly to be welcomed.

 

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Nimrod Illustrated Special Edition

isbn: 9781873877913

£175

150 copies

 One of the most exciting expeditions of the Heroic Age of Antarctic exploration comes "Nimrod Illustrated". The book is a remarkable collage of expedition photographs, paintings and ephemera in a deliberate reminiscence of the expedition scrapbooks kept by so many of the expedition participants at the time. Many of the images are rarely seen, if ever before published, whilst others are better known.Together with quotations from the diaries of expedition participants, they tell the story of the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909 which saw the first use of ponies and motor cars in the Antarctic; achieved the first ascent of Mount Erebus; achieved the first attainment of the South Magnetic Pole; and, took Shackleton within 100 miles of the South Geographic Pole to attain a dramatic new 'Farthest South' record. This was the expedition that made Shackleton's name as an explorer and for which he was awarded his knighthood. Edited by Dr. D. M. Wilson, "Nimrod Illustrated" is a treat for anyone interested in Shackleton, the Antarctic, polar exploration or the atmosphere of the Edwardian age. 

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The Antarctic Journals of Reginald SkeltonSpecial Edition

£175

isbn 9781873877692

150 copies

Reginald Skelton Was Chief Engineer, And Offical Photographer To Captain Scott's Discovery Expedition; My memories of my grandfather are of an old, but still fit and upright, man who had a deep gravelly voice and chuckled a lot. I was only ten when he died in 1956 and he never, as far as I can remember, told me anything about his time in the Antarctic. Forty two years after his death we had, in a sense, changed places and I was getting the full story. By then into my fifties, seated in the library at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge, I began reading the Antarctic journals of Reginald Skelton, not yet out of his twenties, who had been chosen as Scott's chief engineer on the Discovery Expedition. Directly outside the window in front of my desk was the building site which was to become the bright, airy Shackleton Memorial Library. The archivist, Bob Headland, apologised for the terrible noise of the construction work, which he feared would frustrate any attempt to concentrate, but all I could hear was the sound of the Discovery's bows scrunching through the pack ice and the howl of the Antarctic wind as the ship fought to hold her own in the teeth of storm force Southerly squalls off Coulman Island. Since then I have been back to Cambridge to read the seven volumes of Reginald Skelton's Discovery Journals, and his sledging diaries, more times than I can keep track of but every time something new catches my attention. There is a freshness in this account, written by a young man describing events even as they take place, as he experiences them without knowing what is to follow, which is lost in any retrospective telling of the tale. Through the publication of this book I hope many other people, who would not otherwise have the opportunity to read the original journals, will be able to share the pleasure of vicarious participation in the Expedition. There is another purpose in bringing this book to the public. Skelton, whose name is by no means universally known, was, nevertheless, an important member of the Expedition and many books about Discovery include quotations from his journals. Since becoming familiar with the journals, I have found out that not all these passages are faithfully reproduced. I am aware of at least two supposedly scholarly books which contain misquotations from Skelton's journals. Whereas innocent mistakes can be made in interpreting hand-written documents, the distortion in some instances is of an order which suggests deliberate misrepresentation. The present book gives all serious students of the history of Antarctic exploration access to the full authentic text.

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Antarctic Notebooks Special Edition

 isbn 9781874192572

£175

150 copies

Dr. Edward A. Wilson (1872-1912) is widely regarded as one of the finest artists ever to have worked in the Antarctic. Sailing with Captain Scott aboard 'Discovery' (1901-1904), he became the last in a long tradition of 'exploration artists' from an age when pencil and water-colour were the main methods of producing accurate scientific records of new lands and animal species. He combined scientific, topographical and landscape techniques to produce accurate and beautiful images of the last unknown continent. Such was the strength of his work that it also helped to found the tradition of modern wildlife painting. In particular Wilson captured the essence of the flight and motion of Southern Ocean sea-birds on paper. Returning with Captain Scott aboard 'Terra Nova' (1910-1913) as Chief of Scientific Staff, he continued to record the continent and its wildlife with extraordinary deftness. Chosen to accompany Captain Scott to the South Pole, his last drawings are from one of the most famous epic journeys in exploration history. Along with his scientific work, Wilson's pencil recorded the finding of Roald Amundsen's tent at the South Pole by Captain Scott. Wilson died, along with the other members of the British Pole Party, during the return journey, in March 1912. Many of the images in this book are rarely seen or are previously unpublished. The drawings and paintings were created at considerable personal cost in the freezing conditions in which Wilson worked. He often suffered severely from the cold whilst sketching and also from snow-blindness, or sunburn of the eye. They provide a remarkable testament to one of the great figures of the heroic age of Antarctic exploration.

 

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Nature Notebooks Special Edition

150 copies

Edward Wilson is remembered as the artist of the British Antarctic Expedition of 1910-1912, led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott. The "Terra Nova" sailed via Madeira, South Trinidad, South Africa and Australia, to New Zealand; from where she set sail for the Antarctic on 24 January 1911. During the expedition Wilson studied and drew biological specimens, and made finished watercolours. The expedition reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912 after a journey of nearly a year. On the return journey the expedition hit unseasonably bad weather and Wilson died along with team members Scott and Bowers on 29 March. 

The specimens, diaries and sketchbooks were recovered by the search party the following Spring. It is probable that Edward Wilson's place in the history of art is as the last major painter of exploration art, an art form largely created by the fusion of science, cartography and art by William Hodges who had accompanied Captain Cook's second expedition from 1772-75. Hodges' work had been admired by Turner who was in turn admired by Wilson. 

With the death of Wilson, the major media for recording feats of exploration passed primarily to photography and film and the aesthetic technique and vision was subsumed. Edward Wilson drew all his life, collecting his drawings into indexed volumes he called his "stock in trade". He used them as the basis for his illustrations of Barrett-Hamilton's "A History of British Mammals", and started to use them for illustrating W. Eagle Clarke's "A History of British Birds", a cancelled publication. After his death, his wife, Oriana, arranged the notebooks and distributed many of them amongst the family. Two books - the "Nature Notebooks" were given to his nephew, Michael Wilson, whose sons have edited this volume. It contains the bulk of Edward Wilson's non-Antarctic work - from the Notebooks and other sources - reproduced here in chronological order, showing his development as an artist. There is also a selection of quotations from the Notebooks' observations and annotations, in keeping with the scrapbook flavour of many of the pages. Additionally, there is a short biography at the start of each chapter, concentrating on his scientific and artistic progress, and a selection of the Antarctic work so the reader can see the continuous artistic and scientific development.