The Tenements.

£750 · Offered by Shapero Rare Books

Classic Ponting photograph from Captain Scott's Terra Nova expedition (1910-1913). 'The name given to some of the Officers' bunks in the hut. The bunks are those of Mr. Cherry-Garrard, Lieut. Bowers, Capt. Oates, Mr. Meares and Dr. Atkinson. The occupants are seen in them' (Fine Art Society). Cherry-Garrard can be found bottom left looking at the camera, with 'Birdie' Bowers standing over him; Titus Oates is in the top centre bunk looking across to Cecil Meares who holds his pipe in his mouth, with 'Aitch' Atkinson below in the bottom right bunk. The Terra Nova expedition was supposed to be the high-water mark of the Golden Age of Antarctic exploration; led by Captain Robert Falcon Scott, the expedition was to have been the first to reach the South Pole, marking the event with the planting of the Union Jack flag. However the more professionally equipped Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen got there first. Nevertheless Scott's expedition will always be the one best remembered on account of the tremendous courage and bravery shown by Scott and his companions, Wilson, Bowers, Oates, and Evans on their return from the Pole in appalling conditions - perhaps best exemplified by Lawrence 'Titus' Oates who walked from the tent into a blizzard whilst suffering from frostbite and gangrene, knowing that he was not going to survive the journey but hoping that his self-sacrifice might help the others survive. The photographs were originally published by the Fine Art Society in 1914

• Binding: Hardcover

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