Hillary, Hunt

An impressive six-volume collection celebrating the golden age of Everest, Antarctic and polar exploration. This bundle brings together some of the most famous names in twentieth-century expedition history: Edmund Hillary, John Hunt, Robert Falcon Scott, Vivian Fuchs and Wilfrid Noyce. Highlights include John Hunt’s “The Ascent of Everest” (Hodder & Stoughton, 1953), the expedition leader’s account of the historic 1953 British expedition in which Hillary and Tenzing Norgay achieved the first confirmed ascent of Everest; Fuchs and Hillary’s “The Crossing of Antarctica” (Cassell, 1958), documenting the first successful overland crossing of Antarctica; and Wilfrid Noyce’s “The Springs of Adventure” (John Murray, 1958) and “South Col”, both retaining their striking original illustrated dust jackets. Completing the collection are Captain Robert F. Scott’s “The Voyage of the Discovery” in two matching Thomas Nelson volumes, attractively bound in blue cloth with gilt spine lettering and illustrated throughout with historic photographs and maps. Volume I retains its original folding chart of the Antarctic Ocean, preserved in excellent condition, while several of the books contain attractive maps or cartographic endpapers. Together, the six volumes comprise approximately 2,011 numbered pages and trace an extraordinary period of exploration from Scott’s pioneering Discovery Expedition through the conquest of Everest in 1953 to the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition of 1955–58. A particularly coherent group combining Everest, Antarctica, mountaineering, polar exploration, expedition photography and historic travel. Condition: Generally Very Good. The books themselves are well preserved overall, with attractive original bindings, sound interiors and only expected age-related wear, occasional marks and natural toning. Both Wilfrid Noyce volumes retain their illustrated dust jackets, which show age-related wear, tears and losses, particularly South Col; the books beneath remain considerably better preserved. The Springs of Adventure contains an early handwritten ownership annotation dated January 1959. The folding Antarctic chart in Scott’s Voyage of the Discovery, Volume I is remarkably well preserved. Complete collation of every plate and illustration has not been independently verified. A handsome and highly evocative exploration library bringing together Everest and Antarctica through the firsthand accounts of several of the great figures of twentieth-century adventure.

Estimate:£0.84

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