Eight ALS to Mrs M.R. Cumming (Jean's mother).

£1,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

Rare correspondence from the Worsleys during their little-known time attached to the 1934-35 Treasury Recovery Limited Expedition. These letters date from their second attempt at recovering treasure apparently buried on Coco Island by pirates. Seven are by Jean and one by Frank. “Like Shackleton, Worsley was always short of money, and he was vulnerable to get-rich-quick schemes” (Thomson, 166). In fact, treasure hunting was the subject of a great many discussions between Shackleton and Worsley. Worsley believed he’d found a pearl lagoon in the Pacific while commanding a New Zealand government schooner at the turn of the century. Then there was the legend of the lost island of Tuanaki, which Worsley believed lay 200 miles southeast of Roratonga. Incredibly, “Shackleton was so keen on searching for Tuanaki, he made it part of his scientific programme for the Quest expedition of 1921-22” ( ibid , 163). Frank’s age made it difficult to find work at sea and so he turned to writing and lecturing. His first work, Shackleton’s Boat Journey …, appeared in 1924. The opportunity to join a treasure hunt surely would’ve appealed and, in 1934, Worsley finally got his chance. These letters provide an excellent insight into the Worsley’s marriage. Frank met Jean in 1920 at New Zealand House, where she was employed. They married in 1926. “Jean Worsley … was attractive, lively, and modern; in every way a very special person, which she had to be to survive the difficulties of marriage to a midd

• Year: 1935

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