The Crossing of Antarctica – Vivian Fuchs, Edmund Hillary (1958) (1st ed)

S$56.00

The Crossing of Antarctica – Vivian Fuchs, Edmund Hillary (1958) (1st ed)

S$56.00

A first-person account of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958, co-written by expedition leaders Vivian Fuchs and Edmund Hillary.

Title: The Crossing of Antarctica: The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition 1955-1958

Author: Vivian Fuchs, Edmund Hillary

Publisher: Cassell, 1958. First edition.

Condition: Hardcover, with dust jacket. Very good. Slight wear to dust jacket. Very slight foxing to book. Inscription to blank fly leaf. Wit numerous black-and-white and colour photographs. 338pp., app 8.5’x5.5″.

SKU: fuchs-antarctic Categories: , Tag:

About the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (from Wikipedia):

The Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (CTAE) of 1955–1958 was a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that successfully completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica, via the South Pole. It was the first expedition to reach the South Pole overland for 46 years, preceded only by Amundsen’s expedition and Scott’s expedition in 1911 and 1912.

In keeping with the tradition of polar expeditions of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration, the CTAE was a private venture, though it was supported by the governments of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, United States, Australia and South Africa, as well as many corporate and individual donations, under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth II.

It was headed by British explorer Sir Vivian Fuchs, with New Zealander Sir Edmund Hillary leading the New Zealand Ross Sea Support team. The New Zealand party included scientists participating in International Geophysical Year research while the British team were separately based at Halley Bay.

Fuchs was knighted for his accomplishment. The second overland crossing of the continent did not occur until 1981, during the Transglobe Expedition led by Ranulph Fiennes.