Aconcagua and Tierra Del Fuego. A Book of Climbing, Travel and Exploration
London, Cassell and Company, Limited, 1902 (first edition).
Octavo, xii, 252, 8 (publisher's advertisements '7 G.-6.05') pages plus 27 plates and a double-page map.
Maroon cloth (lettered in gilt on the spine and in white on the front cover) lightly rubbed and marked, with the spine slightly sunned and mottled; edges slightly marked; early ownership details in ink on the front flyleaf (Constance Bristowe Jan 1925'), along with a small tipped-in newspaper cutting (featuring quotes from four contemporary reviews of the book); trifling signs of age and use; overall, an excellent copy.
'William Martin Conway, 1st Baron Conway of Allington (1856-1937), known between 1895 and 1931 as Sir Martin Conway, was an English art critic, politician, cartographer and mountaineer, who made expeditions in Europe as well as in South America and Asia.... In 1892, in the course of an exploring and mountaineering expedition undertaken under the auspices of the Royal Society, the Royal Geographical Society and the British Association, he made an ascent of a subsidiary summit of Baltoro Kangri, claiming a world altitude record with a height of 23,000 ft (7,010 m). However, subsequent measurements have revised his height to 22,322 ft (6,804 m). In 1896-97 he explored the interior of Spitsbergen, and the following year he explored and surveyed the Bolivian Andes, climbing "Sorata" (known today as Ancohuma, 21,086 ft / 6,427 m) and Illimani (21,122 ft / 6,438 m). He also attempted Aconcagua (22,831 ft / 6,959 m) stopping short of the summit by 50-ft and explored Tierra del Fuego making an attempt on Sarmiento. At the Paris Exhibition of 1900 he received the gold medal for mountain surveys, and the Founders Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1905. He served as President of the Alpine Club for 1902-04 and became the first president of the Alpine Ski Club at its inaugural meeting in 1908. In 1924, Conway evaluated evidence from the 1924 British Mountaineering Expedition and believed George Mallory and Andrew Irvine had climbed Mt Everest' (Wikipedia).
Item #124736
Price (AUD):
$650.00