The Worst Journey in the Land of Penguins

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The project lasted from 1910 to 1913, under the official name of British Antarctic Expedition, and is also known as Terra Nova Expedition. The project leader was Captain Robert Falcon Scott. One of the survivors, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, entitled his story The Worst Journey in the World.

Before most tragic events take place, this frightening assessment applies to the journey of Edward Wilson and Cherry-Garrard in 1911 to Cape Crozier. Wilson went ahead to collect emperor penguin eggs to support his hypothesis that this strange animal is a missing link between reptiles and birds.

For such a purpose he had to be on the site in the depth of the austral winter. The Wilson expedition experienced the worst conditions that travelers have had to endure, and penguins, with the exception of three of them, kept their eggs. But the come back of the explorers to Cape Evans encouraged Scott to organize his expedition to the Pole.

The text of the return journey of Wilson from Cape Crozier to Cape Evans was published. Now the manuscript, forty pages of a tight script, appears among 34 lots of personal effects from Wilson in the sale of Bonhams in London on September 16. This direct testimony of one of the most daring expeditions is estimated £ 80K.

Scott reached the South Pole in February 1912, one month after Amundsen. Scott and Wilson died on the way back, and Cherry-Garrard was a member of the team that found the tent and corpses.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

The unique documents are often worth more than their estimate. This is the case here, and rightly so: K £ 110 hammer, 132 K £ including fees.