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PrintCollection Name: Drachen Foundation Collection
Collection Number: 2373
Post Type: Book
This item was entered by Matthew Sutton. They assume full responsibility for all content.
Artist or Author: Photographs by Herbert Ponting; Designer: Peter Laws; Managing Editor: Tamiko Re
Creation Year: 2004
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ISBN: 0-76075-627-9 Language: English Description: "Had we lived, I should have had a tale to tell of the hardihood, endurance, and courage of my companions which would have stirred the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our bodies must tell the tale."
So wrote Captain Robert Falcon Scott, shortly before he died returning from the South Pole, ironically close to a depot that might have saved him and his comrades. His 1910-13 expedition to the Pole embodied all of those qualities about which he wrote, and has accorded Scott and the four other members of the Polar party-Evans, Oates, Bowers and Wilson-heroic status in [he annals of history. The triumph and the tragedy of the expedition make a majestic and revealing tale of the British Empire in the early twentieth century that today, regardless of the controversy that surrounds Scott's leadership, continues to touch the hearts and stir the imaginations of all those who hear the story.
While Scott and his party, through determination and discipline, attained their goal of reaching the South Pole, there x~ as neither victory nor elation for the five men. The discovery of the Norwegian flag-Roald Amundsen's mark on history-was a cruel blow and put to rest Scott's hopes and desires of being the first to "secure for the British Empire the honour of this achievement". The despondency of Scott's men can be seen clearly in the photographs that survive. Yet the five men valiantly began the trip back to Cape Evans-an 800-rnile journey with no ponies, no dogs and little food. In the course of the harrowing journey. first Evans, and then Oates, (lied. Scott Bowers and Wilson struggled on despite the subfreezing temperatures, exhaustion, injuries, scurvy, dehydration, frostbite and lack of food. Tragically, only I I miles from One Ton Depot, the three men were overcome by a fierce blizzard. Their cold and bitter end is told in Scott's last diary entries and letters. The discovery of their frozen bodies the following spring is only one part of the Scott story. Other expeditions were mounted and these too required comparable courage from the expedition Members: the Northern/Ea stern party: the Western party; and Wilson, Bowers and Cherry--Garrard's "worst journey in the world to Cape Crozier.
With Scott to the Pole celebrates the achievements and heroism of Captain Scott and of all the members of the 19 10-13 expedition. The story is captured in the extraordinary photographs taken by Herbert Ponting-the "camera artist" whose meticulously executed and perfectly composed images capture the sublime landscape of Antarctica as well as the bravery and endurance exhibited by those on the expedition. Drawn from the archives of the Royal Geographical Society in London and the Scott Polar Research Institute in Cambridge, this rich selection also includes exceptionally finely-crafted images of the rough sea journey, the Terra Novas arrival in Antarctic waters, the dramatically breaking pack-ice, setting up camp and building the hut at Cape Evans, exploratory scientific forays, daily life at camp, the laying of depots and the final push to the Pole.
With Scott to the Pole is a fitting tribute not only to Printing's monumental aesthetic vision, but also to a magnificent story of heroism at the extremes of survival.
240 pages.
Geographic: Antarctic, United Kingdom
Materials: Paper
Images: (Click to open in viewer.)
