8vo. With photogravure portrait of Cook, and 76 plates. In the deluxe binding of pictorial tan moir silk, top edge gilt, others uncut (rebacked preserving original spine and endpapers, spine worn, uncut edges slightly brittle). Provenance: William G. Ihriq (stamp). FIRST EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE, one of 1000 copies SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR. Cook sailed as Surgeon, Anthropologist and Photographer on the Belgian Antarctic Expedition 1897-99, which was the first to winter-over in the Antarctic (beset by pack ice for nearly a year). During this time, he "had to deal with not only physical conditions but also the mental hardships of the crew, soon proved himself the most valuable of the scientists... the extraordinary services rendered Frederick Cook, upon whom the survival of the expedition had depended, were fully acknowledged. He received the gold medal of the Royal Geographical Society of Belgium and knighthood from the King" (Howgego). His lively account was written for English language readers, and it appeared before those of the expedition leaders, Gerlach and Lecointe. This deluxe signed issue is specially bound and contains a sepia photographic portrait of Cook. Rosove 76.A1; cf. Spence 312; Taurus Collection 19.