South Polar Times (Limited Edition)

South Polar Times. 13 vols (see below). Printed and bound by Grafos. The thirteen volumes are as follows:

[1–12] South Polar Times. [facsimiles]. 275 × 208 × 8–15 mm. Photographed by Dot Gradations. Bound in five shades of decorated card, the first eight issues in white, the next two in pale greys and the final two in brown-greys. Grey cloth box with magnetic clasp, dark green spine-label titled (as above) in cream and paper label with brief publication details. Limited to 1000 copies. Reproduced from the sole copies of the magazine held by the Royal Geographical Society (issues for April 1902, May 1902, June 1902, July 1902, August 1902, April 1903, June 1903 and August 1903), British Library (issues June 1911, September 1911 and October 1911) and Scott Polar Research Institute (issue June 1912). Page sizes have been made uniform and the covers restored where possible but the text and illustrations are reproduced as originally intended. Issued in the centenary of the death of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his companions.

[13] The South Polar Times, [Commentary], Ann Savours. 282 × 214 × 25 mm. Pp. [i–v] vi–xx, [1–3] 4–220. Type: Walbaum. Full dark green cloth blocked with monogram design in cream; mottled grey endleaves. Dark green slip case. Illustrated with over 50 items in the text.

Condition

Very good copies (comprising the 12 paperback volumes and the commentary hardback), with bindings square and firm, and pages clean and uninscribed, showing only a few light, innocuous spots of foxing to the edges, and a couple of mild ones on the prelims of a handful of volumes. The slipcase of the commentary volume shows just light wear, while the cloth box with magnetic clasp is near-fine, with only the slightest signs of handling.

Background

A veritable piece of Polar history, the first complete facsimile has been created by The Folio Society in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), the British Library and the Scott Polar Research Institute. 

At the start of the 20th century most of the far places of the world had been explored. Only the Polar regions, bound in ice and well-nigh impenetrable, remained to be conquered. Captain Scott led two expeditions to the Antarctic, on the ship Discovery in 1902 and the Terra Nova in 1911. He and his men waited out the long months of winter darkness, carrying out scientific research, and then used the brief summers to explore the uncharted continent, culminating in 1911 with their ill-fated journey to the South Pole, forever etched on the national consciousness.

The South Polar Times was a magazine created by members of Captain Scott’s expeditions to entertain themselves during the four months of Antarctic winter. Typed up, and illustrated with paintings, sketches and photographs, each issue was read aloud to all hands. They contain a mixture of the ‘grave and gay’, serious reports on the weather or fauna interspersed with cartoons, songs and articles that gently poke fun at members of the expedition. Together the material gives us an unsurpassed sense of their community: legendary personalities such as Scott, Shackleton, Wilson and Cherry-Garrard, as well as scientists and ordinary seamen, all of whom had been inspired to travel to the furthest reaches of the earth and risk their lives.