Southern Lights | The Narrative of the British Graham Land Expedition 1934-1937; with two chapters by A. Stephenson and an Historical Introduction by Hugh Robert Mill
New York: Harper & Brothers Publishers, 1939. Very Good. First American Edition, 1st Printing. 8vo, [10x7.75in]; xv, [1], 295 pp., [1], frontispiece image of Penola's deck, 80 plates of 121 sepia toned images, 4 color maps (3 folding), 4 maps and 3 diagrams in text, appendices and index; original green cloth, red paper spine label with gilt lettered, all edges trimmed; Minor shelf wear to edges corners and covers, spine, label and top of front cover a bit soiled and faded, bookseller label on front end paper. [Headland 1776, Conrad p.302, Spence 1018]. Item #11702
John Riddoch Rymill (1905-1968) was an Australian polar explorer and farmer. As a young boy, he became fascinated by polar literature and set his course to be an explorer. He gained experience in surveying, navigation and flying, and he studied polar travel at the Scott Polar Research Institute under Professor Frank Debenham. He was selected by H. Gino Watkins as a pilot/surveyor for the British Air Route Expedition to Greenland (1930-31). In 1932-33, Watkins then took Rymill as his second on a four man Greenland sledging expedition where Watkins died drowning. Rymill decided to continue Watkin's desire to explore the Antarctic and organized the British Graham Land Expedition (1934-37).
This was a small 10 man expedition that involved two base camps, air and sledging surveys and support ship, Penal manned by amateurs. From Conrad, "Working in a previously unexplored area of Antarctica, this expedition discovered Graham Land was part of the continent and not an archipelago as reported by Wilkins and Ellsworth." They sledged 1,300 miles and made a number of flights and discovered the King George VI Sound as well as contributed to the scientific program including meteorology, geology, glaciology and biology.
Price: $120.00