MAWSON, Sir Douglas. The Home of the Blizzard. Being The Story Of The Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914. London, William Heinemann, 1915.
Two volumes, royal 8vo. Original blue cloth, image of Webb leaning into the wind blocked in silver to upper boards, lettered in gilt to upper covers and spines; pp. xxx, 349; xiii, 338; photogravure frontispiece to each volume, numerous photographic plates including some double-page and some after colour photographs, illustrations to text, 3 large folding maps to rear pocket of volume two; cloth a little marked and with bubbling to some areas, spine ends with old restorations, but still an attractive copy, internally very clean and fresh, engraved armorial bookplates of James John Joicey inside front covers.
First edition. The narrative of an expedition led by Mawson to explore the area of Antarctica facing Australia. The expedition in the Aurora left Hobart on 2nd December 1911, and Mawson and 19 men were landed on 8th January on the Western end of Adélie Land. In the spring Mawson and two companions undertook a sledge journey with dogs over the ice cap, during which one of the party and a sledge containing most of the food disappeared down a crevasse. After suffering terrible privations, only Mawson succeeded in reaching the winter quarters. One outstangin feature of this book is the superior photography by Frank Hurley, who had been th first to use clour photography in Antarctica.
Provenance: James John Joicey (1870-1932) was the biggest and wealthiest lepidoptera collector of the period. In one year alone he spet £10,000 on specimens from all over the world.
Conrad p. 208; Rosove 217.A1a (noting that the Philadelphia issue of the sheets was published shortly before the London issue); Spence 774; Taurus 100.
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