COOK, Frederick A. (1865-1940). To the Top of the Continent: Discovery, Exploration and Adventure in Sub-arctic Alaska. The First Ascent of Mt. McKinley, 1903-1906.
Royal 8vo. Color frontispiece, numerous plates from photographs, in-text diagrams and maps. Original green buckram gilt, photographic cover label, top edge gilt (spine sunned, a bit of spotting to covers). Provenance: Vernon Howard (bookplate); Terry Bruns (ownership signature).
FIRST EDITION, SIGNED BY PHOTOGRAPHER MERL LAVOY on copyright. LaVoy (1885-1953), a notable photographer and documentary cinematographer, undertook an expedition in 1912 along with adventurer Belmore Brown and Professor Herschel Parker to be the first to reach the south summit of Mt. McKinley and disprove Frederick Cook’s claim of reaching the summit in 1906 which has now been discredited. The summit would finally be reached a year later on June 7, 1913, but by a different team (Harper, Karstenes, Stuck and Tatum).