The South Polar Times (Folio Society Limited Deluxe Edition)

SCOTT, Robert Falcon (eds. Ernest Shackleton, Vols. I–II; Apsley Cherry-Garrard, Vol. III; illus. Edward Wilson et al.; commentary Ann Savours). The South Polar Times. London: The Folio Society in association with the Royal Geographical Society, the British Library, and the Scott Polar Research Institute, 2012.

12 facsimile volumes in card wrappers, bound using the 'ota' binding technique (layflat binding), housed in grey cloth presentation box with magnetic clasp and inset cloth label (30.3 × 21.6 × 13.7 cm). Commentary volume (220 pp.) bound in dark blue cloth, gilt-blocked, with dark blue ribbon marker and grey endpapers, housed in separate blue slipcase. Printed in full colour throughout to match original typewriter-ribbon colours. Watercolour paintings, caricatures, silhouettes, photographs, and maps throughout; tipped-in fold-out map; tracing paper protective leaves over photographic prints. First complete facsimile edition. Limited to 1,000 numbered sets, this being number 81. Produced in partnership with the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), the British Library, and the Scott Polar Research Institute.

A beautiful and faithful reproduction of the original "magazine of the ice". Produced by the men of Captain Scott's two Antarctic expeditions. It was typed on a ship's typewriter, decorated with hand-illuminated capitals, and illustrated with watercolour paintings, silhouettes, caricatures, and photographs by members of the expedition. It was read in the hut during the long polar winter, passed from bunk to bunk, the object of considerable anticipation and editorial pride. 

Three volumes were produced: the first two during the Discovery expedition, edited by Ernest Shackleton before his return home in 1903; the third during the Terra Nova expedition, edited by Apsley Cherry-Garrard, who had already made the Winter Journey to Cape Crozier before the first and only Terra Nova issue appeared in April 1911. Scott and his polar party departed for the Pole that spring. The final issue of the South Polar Times was the last magazine most of them would ever read.

The principal illustrator of the South Polar Times was Dr. Edward Wilson (1872–1912), the expedition's chief scientist, whose watercolours of the Antarctic landscape constitute one of the most significant bodies of polar art ever produced. Wilson was one of the five men who reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912 and one of the three who died with Scott in the tent in March of that year. His illustrations in these pages are among his finest work.

The complete South Polar Times — all three volumes, comprising twelve issues — had never been published in full facsimile before this Folio Society edition of 2012, produced to mark the centenary of Scott's death. The twelve facsimile volumes reproduce every page of every issue in full colour, matching the original typewriter-ribbon tones, preserving the tipped-in fold-out maps, and including tracing paper protective leaves over the photographic prints exactly as in the originals. The accompanying commentary volume by Ann Savours, the distinguished polar historian and formerly Keeper of Maps and Charts at the Scott Polar Research Institute, provides scholarly context for every issue. The edition was produced at an original retail price of £495, reflecting the extraordinary care and cost of its production.

Near fine. Mild foxing to the wrappers of a few volumes; otherwise fine throughout.

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Catalogue Number: HH000214