WILKINS, Hubert, Sir (1888-1958). Under the North Pole: The Wilkins-Ellsworth Submarine Expedition. New York: Brewer, Warren & Putnam, [1931].
4to. Two original gelatin silver prints of Wilkins by Hal Phyfe, signed on each verso, produced for this edition only (thereafter the negative was destroyed), numerous illustrations after photographs, plans and maps. Errata slip tipped-in. Original half dark blue morocco, spine decorated and lettered in gilt and silver, top edge gilt, others uncut (few minor scuffs to covers, a faint touch of rubbing near ends, else fine).
FIRST EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE, NUMBER 11 OF 29 COPIES OF THE “CONTRIBUTORS EDITION” THAT WAS CARRIED ON THE POLAR VOYAGE OF THE SUBMARINE “NAUTILUS”, SIGNED BY WILKINS, issue simultaneously with the “de luxe edition” and the first trade edition.
Having worked under Vilhjalmur Stefansson, Frank Hurley and Ernest Shackleton, Wilkins went on to lead several expeditions in both the Arctic and Antarctic regions including Shackleton’s last voyage aboard Quest in 1920-23. “In 1931 came his famous venture by submarine in Arctic waters made... with the twofold purpose of exploring the region from Spitzbergen westwards via the North Pole to the world. A series of mishaps and mechanical breakdowns caused the expedition of the Nautilus to be abandoned, but not before it had been shown that a submarine could operate safely beneath the polar ice. On 30 November 1958 Wilkins died suddenly in Massachusetts. He had often expressed a wish that his ashes might be scattered near the North Pole and this service was carried out by the nuclear-powered submarine Skate, breaking through the polar ice after a long voyage such as Wilkins himself had planned” (DNB). Arctic Bibliography 19493; Books on Ice 8.5.