Shackleton, Ernest Henry | "South," signed by the author

Shackleton, Ernest Henry

South. The story of Shackleton's last expedition 1914-1917. London: William Heinemann, 1919

8vo (250 x 154mm). Half-title, folding map, 87 plates (one colored, one double-page), after Frank Hurley or George Marston; signature possibly inserted later. Publisher's blue cloth, blocked in silver, top edge blue; head and foot of spine a little bumped.

First edition, fourth impression. Boldly signed by Shackleton on the front free endpaper.

The Endurance left South Georgia Island on December 5th, 1914. Shortly after its departure, the ship became trapped in heavy pack ice in the Weddell Sea in January 1915 and eventually, on October 27, was crushed and sank. Shackleton and his crew were forced to abandon ship and the expedition. Shackleton then led a perilous 800-mile voyage in a small lifeboat, the James Caird, from Elephant Island to South Georgia to secure the rescue of his stranded crew.

REFERENCES:

Spence 1107; Taurus Collection 105