NANSEN, Fridtjof (1861-1930). Farthest North. London, 1897. FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH.
2 volumes, royal 8vo (237 x 159 mm). Etched frontispiece portrait, 4 color-printed folding maps, 16 chromolithographic plates, numerous photographic illustrations; half-titles. Advertisement for "Ice Bound" laid in. Publisher's green ribbed cloth (a touch of wear to extremities). Provenance: Arthur E. Clementson (pencil inscription, 1897).FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH. Nansen's voyage was the first for the Fram, a ship specially designed to withstand ice pressure; after being frozen in for 3 years, the Fram emerged from the ice undamaged, and went on to carry Roald Amundsen to South Polar waters on his 1910 expedition. Though Nansen didn't reach the North Pole during his expedition, he reached the highest latitude so far attained by man (85 14'). Nansen's account was instantly successful and was translated into numerous languages. Arctic Bibliography 11983 (first American edition); PMM 353 (Norwegian edition, "it remains the classic story of Polar exploration").
