NANSEN, Fridtjof.

"Farthest North" Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship Fram 1893-96 and of a Fifteen Months' Sleigh Journey by Dr. Nansen and Lieut. Johansen with an Appendix by Otto Sverdrup Captain of the Fram.

“THE HIGHEST LATITUDE THEN REACHED BY MAN”: Fridtjof NANSEN'S FARTHEST NORTH

London: George Newnes, Ltd, 1898.

$600.00

Out of Stock Item Number: RRB-149535

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Finely bound edition and the first to be issued in the iconic publisher's elaborately decorated binding of this "remarkable achievement in Polar exploration" (PMM). Octavo, two volumes, original publisher's pictorial green cloth over beveled boards, elaborately blocked in gilt, red, and silver, spines blocked in gilt and silver with titles and Arctic vignettes, all edges gilt. Volume I with portrait frontispiece; Volume II with monochrome frontispiece, profusely illustrated with 64 monochrome plates, one color-printed plate, a color-printed folding map by John Bartholomew & Co., numerous monochrome illustrations and diagrams, 46 full-page plates, one additional full-page map, and letterpress tables throughout the text. In near fine condition with rubbing to the extremities. A very sharp example of this cornerstone of Arctic exploration literature.

In 1890, Norwegian scientist and explorer Fridtjof Nansen announced an innovative plan for Northern polar expeditions. “His theory, that a drift-current sets across the polar regions from Bering Strait… towards the east coast of Greenland was based on a number of indications… His intention was to get his vessel fixed in the ice to the north of Eastern Siberia and let her drift with it.” Although criticized, his plan succeeded. “His ship, the ‘Fram’ (‘Forward’), was specially built of immense strength and peculiar form” in order to endure the ice-floes. “During the winter of 1894-95 it was decided that an expedition should be made northward over the ice on foot in the spring… Being satisfied that the ‘Fram’ would continue to drift safely,” Nansen led the expedition to 86 degrees North, “the highest latitude then reached by man” (Britannica).