The Voyage of the "Discovery", 2 Volumes (First Edition)

Scott's personal account of his first major Antarctic expedition aboard the Discovery. It contains a detailed chronicling of the scientific and exploratory achievements of what would become widely-known as the Discovery Expedition.

Primarily scientific in nature, the expedition focused on geographic, meteorological, and biological research in Antarctica. Scott details the establishment of a base at McMurdo Sound and the systematic exploration of the Ross Ice Shelf and surrounding regions. One of the expedition's most significant achievements was Scott's southern journey with Ernest Shackleton and Edward Wilson, during which they reached 82°17'S - the farthest south anyone had travelled at that time.

This expedition established Scott's reputation as a polar explorer. However, later in history the contents of Scott's writing in this book would reveal some of the organisational and logistical challenges that would later prove fatal during his 1910-1913 Terra Nova expedition, marking it as an important historical artefact and a highly collectible rarity.

2 Volumes. First edition. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1905. Large 8vo. Original blue publisher's cloth. Pages: Vol.i: xix, 556; vol.ii: xii, 508.Folding maps in rear pastedowns of each volume. 

Bound in original blue publisher's cloth. Lettering on spine stamped in gilt. Cover illustrations of Royal Geographical Society seal blocked in gilt. Fair. Binding cocked and separating at gutter of front and rear endpapers. Some signatures freeing from binding. Spine bumped with weathering present at head, foot, and creases. Rubbing and weathering along binding edges and at corners. Gilt illustrations on both volumes rubbed on raised portions. These issues are more prominent in vol.I, but consistent across both volumes. Half-title and some signatures in vol.I separated from binding. Some markings and foxing present throughout contents of both volumes. Otherwise contents are complete and in good condition. Plates are bright and clear with details preserved. Map in rear pastedown of vol.I chipped and torn, stabilised with archival tape. Map from vol.II in good condition, only minor separation at some folds. 

Provenance: From the library of Warwick H. Williams.

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