Description
Presentation copy of Nearest the Pole by Robert E. Peary, published in New York in 1907.
Octavo, xx, 411pp. Green cloth, title in gilt on spine, embossed emblem on front cover. Bookplate affixed to front pastedown. A few points of transference, where newspaper clippings were previously laid in. Complete with ninety-five photographs, two folded color maps and a color frontispiece. All maps in fine condition. (Arctic Bibliography 13226) Presentation letter affixed to front free endpaper: “May 3, ’08 / Dear Mrs. Bunker, Perhaps you + Mr. Bunker may have time + sufficient interest to read the enclosure. I hope the “big fellow” is entirely himself again. With best regards to you all. Very sincerely, R.E. Peary.”
This work, which describes Robert Peary’s 1905-1906 expedition to reach the North Pole, contains an account of the S.S. Roosevelt’s passage to Cape Sheridan on Ellesmere Island, exploration of the Arctic Basin and return via the northwest coast of Greenland. The expedition was sponsored by the Peary Arctic Club. During this expedition, Peary claimed to have achieved the “farthest north” record of 87°06′, coming within 175 miles of the North Pole. This “farthest north” record would later be disputed.
