Farthest North. Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the ship Fram 1893-96 and of a fifteen months' Sleigh Journey by Dr. Nansen and Lieut. Johansen. With an Appendix by Otto Sverdrup Captain of the Fram

London: George Newnes, 1898.

Two volumes. Second UK edition, issued a year after the first. 8vo. Vol 1, pp. xv, 480; Vol 2, pp. viii, 456. Original greenish-blue cloth over bevelled boards, spines lettered in gilt, decorative details on spines in gilt and silver, front covers elaborately blocked in gilt, silver, and red, edges of text block sprinkled red. One chromo-lithographed plate and about 120 illustrations and vignettes in the text, many full-page, plus the folding "chart of North Polar regions" tucked in at the back of vol I. Foxing to pastedowns and endpapers across both vols. Apart from some light rolling to the head of the spine in vol II this is a very bright set of Nansen, with no fading to spine or erosion of the colour. Born in Christiana (Oslo) in 1861, Fridtjof Nansen trained as a scientist and earned his doctorate in zoology, contributed to the field of neurological anatomy and worked as a museum curator in Norway. A great athlete and champion cross-country skier, he combined his academic interests with his passion for adventure by becoming the first person to cross the interior of Greenland on skis. 'The Farthest North' chronicles his next trip to the Arctic, the Fram Expedition. His plan was to take advantage of the ocean currents by getting trapped in the ice pack near Siberia, and live in the trapped ship while the ocean moved him slowly into position, whereupon he would set off by skis and dogs on the final leg. This bold, possibly foolhardy, plan involved the development of a new type of ship, which could resist the crushing strength of the polar ice, plus newly designed sledges, skis and lightweight clothing. Even the crew's diet was extensively researched and planned, with the result that they avoided scurvy and all made it back safely. After almost three years in the Arctic, Nansen returned to Norway to international acclaim and 'The Farthest North' became a best-seller.