Rare Book Monthly

Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2012 Issue

The Arctic, Antarctic, and Whaling from Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books

- by Michael Stillman

A flight over the North Pole with Amundsen and Ellsworth.

Count Zeppelin never made it to the North Pole in a zeppelin, but 16 years later, Roald Amundsen and two others did. It was not an airship manufactured in the Zeppelin plant, but a similar ship, adjusted for long journeys and cold conditions, built in Italy. Amundsen was first person to reach the South Pole, having done so by land in 1911. There were two previous land expeditions to the North Pole, and an airplane overflight only a few days earlier. However, all three of those claims have serious challenges as to their veracity, including Richard E. Byrd's overflight of a few days prior, so it is possible that Amundsen's voyage on the Norge airship was the first to reach the North Pole. The flight dropped flags of Amundsen's Norway and of Italy and America for the other two crewmen at the pole. Item 2 is De eerste vlucht over de Noordpool by Amundsen and the American participant, Lincoln Ellsworth, published in 1926. €35 (US $45).

Gert Jan Bestebreurtje Rare Books may be reached at +31 (0)347 322 548 or info@gertjanbestebreurtje.com. Their website is www.gertjanbestebreurtje.com.

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