SHACKLETON (ERNEST HENRY, editor)

Aurora Australis, FIRST EDITION, LIMITED TO APPROXIMATELY 90 COPIES, H.J.L. DUNLOP'S COPY, Published at the winter quarters of the British Antarctic Expedition During the Winter Months of April, May, June, July, 1908... Printed at the sign of 'The Penguins'; by Joyce and Wild... East Antarctica, 1908

Footnotes

THE FIRST EDITION OF THE FIRST BOOK PUBLISHED AND PRINTED IN ANTARCTICA - ONE OF ABOUT 80 RECORDED COPIES, SIGNED BY HENRY DUNLOP, CHIEF ENGINEER ON THE NIMROD.

UNIQUE COPY with the illusive etched plate 'A giant Tick was investigating the carcase' (captioned in pencil below the image), which appears in no other recorded copy. Prior to its discovery in this copy, in 2011, this plate was presumed not to exist, although the chapter title leaf is present in a small number of copies. However, an amended lighter version of the illustration was used in The Antarctic Book.

The present copy contains 111 leaves in total, comprising: Roscove nos. 1-94 (of 95, without the final chapter title for the 'Giant tick' plate); 14 blank leaves; additional proof of the 'At the Edge of the Crater' plate; the 'Giant Tick' plate; printed menu.

The printed menu, with a wood-engraved head-piece vignette and including "Penguin Patties", "Seal Cutlets" and "MORE WHISHKY!!!!!?", comprises the third and final leaf of a menu for a midwinter dinner which took place on 23 June 1908 at Shackleton's Cape Royds' hut ('British Antarctic Expedition 1907, Midwinter Celebration, At Winter Quarters, Cape Royds, June 23rd 1908', East Antarctica, printed on the Albion Press by Wild and Joyce, 1908). Another copy of the same leaf is present in the William King Davis copy of Aurora Australis at the State Library of Tasmania, and two of the Joyce copies have the full menu.

Two variants of the book are known. The present copy is in Millard's format A, with for example the title-page in colour, the penguin stamps at the foot of the chapter title leaves, and the presence of the 'Sheckels' illustration, making a total of 11 rather than 10 plates. This format is now in fact accepted to be the second state: it seems Shackleton was concerned that part of Wild's text, describing five wealthy men who refuse to contribute to the Expedition fund, might jeopardise future fund-raising efforts, and asked that the "offensive" passage be replaced with an additional plate (see M.L. Greene, "Aurora Australis... A New Description of the First State of the First Book Published on the Antarctic Continent", in Book Talk: Essays on Books, Oak Knoll Press, 2006, pp.69-79).

Shackleton had earlier been the editor of the South Polar Times, published in England to commemorate Scott's first expedition of 1901-1904. The success of this led to his shipping a press, type and paper with his Nimrod Expedition of 1907-1909. To keep his men occupied during the dark winter months in the Cape Royds hut, Shackleton asked for written stories, poems, or humorous short essays from them. The best were to be published. The printing and publishing was co-ordinated by Ernest Joyce and Frank Wild, and George Marston provided illustrations; whether the want of binding materials was an oversight, or not, the problem was solved by Bernard Day, the electrician and mechanic, using boards from the crates in which the expedition's supplies were shipped, the stencilling often revealing the contents as soup and the like. The ink was heated by candles, and much of the printing was done when the other men were sleeping to minimize vibration. Shackleton wrote the introduction and preface to the text, and contributions were made by 10 other members of the crew. Shackleton stated that 80 copies were brought back to England, and 79 are listed as confirmed listed in the ongoing census on the Antarctic Circle website.

Provenance: Henry J.L. Dunlop (1876-1931), Chief Engineer on the Nimrod; by descent to the present owner.