The Worst Journey in the World | Antarctic 1910-1913; With panoramas, maps, and illustrations by the Late Doctor Edward A. Wilson and other members of the expedition

London: Constable & Co, Ltd [R. & R. Clark, printers], 1922. First Edition, 1st Printing. Clamshell case. Very Good. [December, 1922 in two volumes], 8vo, [9x6in]; Vol. I - lxiv, 300 pp., [4] appendix, frontispiece color illustration of McMurdo Sound, two foldout panoramas, 27 plate leaves with illustrations and images (3 color, 36 sketches, paintings and images), and four maps with 3 foldout; Vol. II - viii, 301-585 pp., [1] printers blank, frontispiece color illustration of halo around the moon, eight foldout panoramas, 19 plate leaves with illustrations and images (1 color, 24 sketches, paintings and images), and one foldout map; Light blue gray paper boards with tan linen spine backing, black lettering on spine paper labels, all edges untrimmed, light blue gray end papers; Some shelf wear to covers, edges and corners, with darkening of spine linen and paper labels, labels cracked and some small chips with no loss of text, corners worn through, glue residue on front end paper and age toning to covers, prior ownership ink stamp "Westminster Films...Pasadena, California" on rear end paper, lacking extra labels. In custom clamshell case. A well written book of Antarctic exploration literature. [Rosove 71.A1, Howgego III S13 & S14, Spence 277, Conrad p. 173, Taurus 84]. Apsley Cherry-Garrard (1886-1959) was a last minute Antarctic explorer. He was added to the Robert Falcon Scott Terra Nova Expedition (1910-1913) as an assistant zoologist after a large donation to the expedition. Cherry-Garrard proved to be a worthy and was able to hold his own with the other more experienced Antarctic explorers.

Edward Wilson chose Bowers and Cherry-Garrard as his companions for a Winter Journey in 1911 to the rookery of the Emperor Penguin at Cape Crozier; a journey which is still without parallel in polar exploration. On their return five weeks later, Scott described their journey as 'the hardest that has ever been made' -- a phrase which later suggested to Cherry-Garrard the title of his narrative. He was also part of the party that found Scott, Wilson and Birdie Bowers bodies in 1913 when they failed to reach the One Ton supply depot after returning from achieving the South Pole a month after Amundsen.

The book, in all of the editions, is widely regarded as the most readable of all the Antarctic literature. George Bernard Shaw wrote, "It was perhaps the only real stroke of luck in Scott's ill fated [Terra Nova] expedition that Cherry-Garrard, the one survivor of the Cape Crozier winter journey, happened to be able to describe it so effectively that the reader forgets how comfortable he is in his arm-chair, and remembers the tale with a shiver as if he had been through it himself.".

From Rosove, "Cherry-Garrard's book has often been referred to as the finest polar book ever written. Scott's diary left many facets of the expedition and the experiences of its men untold: it was Cherry-Garrard who pulled the entire story of the main party together. He was uniquely suited to do so. He was a member of the main party for the expedition's entire duration, had access to unpublished sources, and was the only member of the Winter Journey to survive the expedition. Most of all, he had the sensibilities and extraordinary literary genius necessary to cope with the complex and tragic subject of the Polar Journey ... The book Cherry-Garrard left behind is a monument immortalizing the expedition in the annals of Antarctic exploration and geographic exploration in general (Inventory #: 11254)