Polar Exploration Collection

The September 14th auction features an amazing collection of polar exploration titles. This includes a beautiful signed copy of The South Pole by Amundsen. The first expedition to reach the geographic South Pole was led by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. He and four others arrived at the pole on 14 December 1911, five weeks ahead of a British party led by Robert Falcon Scott as part of the Terra Nova Expedition. Amundsen and his team returned safely to their base, and later learned that Scott and his four companions had died on their return journey.

Also for sale are first editions of The Heart of the Antarctic, a work that takes its place among the great records of adventure. Shackleton here tells the quite remarkable story of the British Antarctic expedition of 1907 to 1909. Shackleton and his men made it to within 97 miles of the South Pole, experiencing along the way every hardship possible, then returning to their wooden ship before the ice crushed it.

We have a first edition of the scarce title, The Worst Journey in the World. This is a memoir of the 1910–1913 British Antarctic Expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott. It was written and published in 1922 by a survivor of the expedition, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, and has earned wide praise for its frank treatment of the difficulties of the expedition, the causes of its disastrous outcome, and the meaning (if any) of human suffering under extreme conditions.

There are more than 100 lots of Polar exploration titles up for auction, including many first edition, signed and rare titles.

The complete catalogue will be uploaded soon.

August Auction Highlights

Thanks to everyone that supported our August auction. It was a huge success and a fun day, with many happy buyers and vendors. The highlight of the sale was a 16th Century Illuminated Manuscript Antiphonal that sold for $13,200, along with a monastic prayer book for $3,100 and another velum manuscript for $3,600. These are very unique in an Australian market and the subsequent result reflected the popularity of such items.

Other great sales included a copy of Forster Voyage Round the World with Cook, which sold for $2,600, and a signed first edition of Banjo Patterson’s Man From Snowy River with a tipped in letter by Banjo that reached $3,800. There was also a Banjo Patterson scrapbook that contained a letter from Banjo. This sold for $600. The antiquarian collection was hugely popular and included an 18th century hand written book on mining that sold for $2,000 and a 1619 Elements of Euclid that reached $700.

Our next auction will be on September 14th and features an amazing collection of Polar exploration titles, with many signed and first editions books on Antarctic and Arctic exploration.