David Spilman Fine Books

Sir Hubert Wilkins; His World of Adventure [Signed by Lady Wilkins]

Thomas, Lowell

New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., 1961. Near Fine in Very Good dust-jacket First Edition. [8.5x6in]; 296 pp., [1], 28 black and white images; Pale blue cloth back strip on patterned gray paper boards, white and black ink lettering on spine, all edges trimmed; Black dust jacket with blue, white and red lettering on front and spine, blue tinted image of Wilkins on front and narratives of author and reviews on back; Minimal shelf wear, inscription on front end paper signed by Lady Suzanne Wilkins, tipped in in news paper article that was taped to back end paper; Some edge chips and wear to dust jacket, price clipped, rubbing and fading to spine and edges. Item #13056

Sir George Hubert Wilkins (1888-1958), an Australian, was one of the last great heroes of the Heroic Age of Polar Exploration in the early 1900's. In 1913, he was selected by Vilhjalmur Stefansson to be the photographer on the Karluk to explore the Arctic Beaufort Sea area. He was part of the British Expedition to Antarctic Graham Land in 1920-21, which, of the four members, two winter over and produced meteorological, tidal and zoological data. He was a member of the Shackleton's last expedition to study the Southern Ocean as an ornithologist (The Shackleton-Rowett expedition on the Quest 1920-22). In 1926 and 1928, Wilkins commanded the Wilkins-Detroit Arctic expeditions to conduct flights with Carl Ben Eielson to explore drift ice and make the first Trans-Arctic flight from Point Barrow to Spitsbergen. For this, and his other achievements, he was knighted.

Wilkins led two Antarctic flight expeditions on Graham Land in 1928-29 and 1929-30, which were the first to fly inland. They made significant discoveries that proved the existence of the Antarctic Peninsula instead of an archipelago of islands. In 1931, he proposed to use a modified World War I diesel and battery powered submarine under the Arctic Ocean ice from the Barents Sea to the Bearing Sea. The plan was dependent on the ability to drill through the ice for ventilation of the diesel engines when charging the batteries. The expedition only made it under the ice for a few miles north of Spitsbergen Is. when equipment failure forced them to turn back.

For the next 25 years, Wilkins became a senior Arctic and Antarctic advisor to governments and polar related organizations. He was appointed to many organizations and boards, and participated in several papers on polar travel and conditions.

The transit under the Arctic Ocean ice was accomplished 28 years later by the nuclear powered USS Nautilus in August 1958. Following on a week later, the USS Skate was able to partially surface near the North Pole. When the Skate returned to the United Sates, Sir Hubert was invited aboard for dinner and a conversation about the transit and his experiences. Sir Hubert Wilkins died in December, 1958 and his ashes were taken by the USS Skate to be committed at the North Pole.

Price: $70.00