SOUTH: The Story of Shackleton's Last Expedition 1914-1917.

Second impression of the first edition. Publisher's original dark blue cloth with silver titles to the upper board and spine, with an illustration of Shackleton's ship 'The Endurance' in silver to the upper board, and the publisher's device in blind to the lower board. Deckled fore-edge. With a colour frontispiece of 'The Endurance', 81 black and white photographic plates and in-text maps, and a folding map at the rear. A very good copy, the binding square and firm, with a little wear and mild rubbing to the extremities. A couple of plates with short closed tears to the fore-edge margin, the folding map at the rear has a closed tear, secured with tape to the underside. The contents, with two ownership stamps in black to the front pastedown, one to the rear pastedown, and a gift inscription in black ink to the front endpaper, have some spotting and staining throughout.

Shackleton's classic account of the Endurance expedition - the most inspiring voyage of the Heroic period of Antarctic exploration. Shackleton's party had hoped to cross the continent via the South Pole, although ran into problems from the outset, culminating in their being trapped and then crushed in the ice, loosing the Endurance to the Weddell Sea. After enduring months in the ice, the party made the perilous journey to the inhospitable Elephant Island, followed by an 800 mile open boat journey to South Georgia in order to secure rescue. Shackleton's incredible leadership ensured, miraculously, that every single member of the crew survived, and his subsequent account helped to make the expedition the stuff of legend. This second impression, published just a month after the November 1919 first printing, is printed on slightly better paper stock and is therefore less prone to the heavy browning encountered with the first.