[SHACKLETON, Ernest (1874-1922)]. MURRAY, James (1865-1914) and George MARSTON (1882-1940). Antarctic Days. Sketches of the homely side of Polar life by two of Shackleton’s men. With a Preface by Ernest Shackleton. London: Andrew Melrose, 1913.
Small 4to. 4 mounted color plates, 34 photo illustrations on 28 plates. (Few leaves with marginal spotting, else fine). Original light blue cloth gilt, illustration affixed to upper cover, top edge gilt, others uncut (corners, joints and ends discretely touched-up, extremities very gently sunned). Provenance: Captain Richard Campbell (bookplate).
FIRST EDITION, DELUXE ISSUE, number 52 of 280 copies, SIGNED BY SHACKLETON, MURRAY AND MARSTON on half-title. Murray and Marston’s account of the Nimrod Expedition of 1907-1909, on which Shackleton’s Aurora Australis was printed and “for the first time an unofficial, and therefore more human document, is presented to the public. I would advise anyone who wants to get to the kernel of the life of a Polar explorer to read the book” (Ernest Shackleton, from the Preface). Also known for its production value, Rosove describes his admiration for this deluxe edition as being a “beautiful production. The binding, high-quality uncut paper, large margins, the mounting of the color plates on thick, gray stock with overlying title tissue paper guards, and the high-quality of the photographic plates are all reminiscent of the deluxe edition of The Heart of the Antarctic” (Rosove). Conrad, p. 145; Rosove 236 (“very scarce”); Spence 830; Taurus 61.