A Negro Explorer at the North Pole - 1912

8vo, publishers blue cloth with a photographic inset of Henson on the Front cover, also illustrated with other photographs, 200 pp. Lettering on backstrip a bit faded, rubber stamp of previous owner on front paste down, and some minor tears and wear to top and bottom edges. Overall in very good condition, and better than average copy. The book contains a Foreword by Robert E. Peary, and an Introduction by Booker T. Washington. Henson was born just a few years after slavery ended on August 8, 1866 in Charles County Maryland. He went to sea when he was twelve or thirteen, and met Peary in 1887. He went with Peary to Nicaragua and seven northern expeditions. The two spent around 25 years traveling together and Peary felt he couldn’t have made the trips without him. He was an excellent hunter and dog handler, and proved to be very effective in dealing with the Eskimos. While he achieved some modest fame after reaching the North Pole, perhaps because of prejudice he seems to have been ignored for years after the expeditions. However, in later life his contribution was recognized and he was made a member of the Explorer’s Club, received a medal by Congress, saluted by President Truman, and visited the White House as a guest of President Eisenhower. Henson died in New York in 1955.