The Worst Journey in the World | Antarctic 1910-1913; With maps and illustrations by the Late Doctor Edward A. Wilson and other members of the expedition by Cherry-Garrard, Apsley - 1923

New York: George H. Doran [R. & R. Clark Printers, Edinburgh], 1923. First American Edition, 1st Printing. Slipcased. Very Good. [In two volumes, not dated, Preface dated 1923], 8vo, [9x6in]; Vol. I - lxiv, 300 pp., [4] appendix, frontispiece color illustration of McMurdo Sound, 27 plate leaves with illustrations and images (3 color, 36 sketches, paintings and images), and four maps with 3 foldout; Vol. II - viii, 301-585 pp., [1] printers blank, frontispiece color illustration of halo around the moon, 19 plate leaves with illustrations and images (1 color, 24 sketches, paintings and images), and one foldout map, glossary, index; Light blue gray paper boards with tan linen spine backing, black lettering on spine paper labels with ruled borders, top edge trimmed and others untrimmed, light blue gray end papers; With reproduction of 1923 slipcase; Some shelf wear to covers, edges and corners, Vol. I front lower corner worn through, top and bottom of spine shows several small chips, in both Vol. I and II darkening of spine linen and paper labels, labels cracked and some small chips with some loss of text in Vol. II., age toning to covers and darkening along all edges, top edge of text blocks darken from soiling and dust, prior owner ink signature on front end papers and initials on half-title pages, in Vol. 1 misfold and split along crease in panorama and map and in Vol. II small closed tear to map at hinge with both archival repaired, tipped in London Times obituary of Cherry-Garrard. A well written book of Antarctic exploration literature. [Rosove 71.C1a, Howgego III S13 & S14]. Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) was a last minute Antarctic explorer. He was added to the Robert Falcon Scott Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1913) as an assistant zoologist after a large donation to the expedition. Cherry-Garrard proved to be a worthy and was able to hold his own with the other more experienced Antarctic explorers. Edward Adrian Wilson (1872-1912) chose Henry Robertson Bowers (1883-1912) and Cherry-Garrard as his companions for a Winter Journey in 1911 to the rookery of the Emperor Penguin at Cape Crozier; a journey which is still without parallel in polar exploration. On their return five weeks later, Scott described their journey as 'the hardest that has ever been made' -- a phrase which later suggested to Cherry-Garrard the title of his narrative. He was also part of the party that found Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912), Wilson and Bowers bodies in 1913 when they failed to reach the One Ton supply depot after returning from achieving the South Pole a month after Amundsen.This book is the American edition that was issued soon after the London edition issued in December 1922. In this edition two sentences are omitted in the preface and issued without the 10 folding panoramas. The book, in all of the editions, is widely regarded as the most readable of all the Antarctic literature. George Bernard Shaw wrote, "... Cherry-Garrard, the one survivor of the Cape Crozier winter journey, happened to be able to describe it so effectively that the reader forgets how comfortable he is in his arm-chair, and remembers the tale with a shiver as if he had been through it himself." From Rosove, "Cherry-Garrard's book has often been referred to as the finest polar book ever written. Scott's diary left many facets of the expedition and the experiences of its men untold: it was Cherry-Garrard who pulled the entire story of the main party together. ... [He] had access to unpublished sources, and was the only member of the Winter Journey to survive the expedition. Most of all, he had the sensibilities and extraordinary literary genius necessary to cope with the complex and tragic subject of the Polar Journey ... The book Cherry-Garrard left behind is a monument immortalizing the expedition in the annals of Antarctic exploration and geographic exploration in general