The Doldenhorn and Weisse Frau (First Edition)

A beautifully illustrated accounting of one of the landmark achievements of Swiss Alpine climbing during the Golden Age of Mountaineering. This volume chronicles the successful ascents of two peaks in the Bernese Oberland: the Doldenhorn and the Weisse Frau. A remarkable work of collaboration between two central figures of European mountaineering who would go on to become two of the founders of the Swiss Alpine Club.

Published simultaneously in German and English, this handsome variant was bound by Victorian fine binders Westleys & Co. for publication in the London and Edinborough markets. Contemporary with the binding practices of the early 1860s, when publishers issued the same edition in multiple formats for different markets and price points, the book appears to have been available in printed wrappers for the Continental market and in this more durable cloth binding for English readers.

First Edition. Coblenz: Karl Baedecker, 1863. Slim 8vo. Fine bound in blue decorative cloth. [viii], 82pp. Folding map at rear. 11 coloured engravings and sketches, 4 woodcut engravings.

Bound in blue cloth by Westleys & Co., London with binder's stamp on lower RBEP. Profusely decorated in patterned blind tooling. Letting to cover in gilt. Original softcover cover pasted to page internally. Very good. Bound in decorative cloth hardcovers by fine binder Westley & Co. at the request of publisher Karl Baedecker. Binding square and tight. Some rubbing to spine creases and edges. Mild discolouration to lower corners. Contents mildly toned and marked. Original softcover retained and in excellent condition. Lacks frontispiece portrait. Plates and folding map in excellent condition. Some markings present, but clear and bright with bold colours. 

Full title: The Doldenhorn and Weisse Frau Ascended for the First Time By Abraham Roth and Edmund Von Fellenberg.

Provenance: From the library of Warwick H. Williams. Ex-libris bookplate of Gerald Franklin pasted to FBEP.

This book is currently not on display in store.

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