From Paris magazine L'Illustration, October 1909

An unnamed crew-member at play. The original caption reads: "une séance de phonographe offerte aux pingouins." We have been so far unable to discover the exact records enjoyed by the local fauna, but we'll keep you posted.

Posted by SCE on September 18, 2006
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Over-wintering in Antarctica is a long and dull business.

During the 1902 Discovery Expedition, where Shackleton first served under Scott, he created and edited The South Polar Times, a lively and unique journal established to both maintain morale and document the lives and work of the small colony at Cape Royds.

The South Polar Times contains news, poetry (presumably with some contributions by EHS, or "Nemo" as he styled himself in his editorial role) notable observations on the taste of penguin-meat, satirical cartoons and illustrated essays on geological, climatic, biological and other scientific topics, all produced in situ on the expedition's single typewriter during the long wait for the Antarctic summer, and hence for favourable conditions under which tackle the Pole.

The illustration above, 'Dawn' by Dr. EA Wilson, is reproduced from Vol. 1 of the collected South Polar Times, which was compiled in 1907, on the Discovery's return.

We will be posting more from this excellent and highly unusual journal, never originally intended for publication, here in the SCE Polar History Archives.

Posted by SCE on September 17, 2006
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On his return in 1909 Shackleton was considerably in debt, and had to raise money by giving a lecture tour about his adventures. Shackleton was widely regarded as a hero, and the tour was a great success.

We present an early wax cylinder record from this period, titled 'My South Polar Expedition' by Lieut. E.H. Shackleton, recorded on 30 March 1909, with the location of the recording apocryphally given as being the Albert Hall. In any event, Shackleton describes here the hazards of crossing the Beardmore Glacier: only ten men in recorded history have ever managed this crossing.

You can hear this historic recording (3m 47s) in MP3 format by clicking here. Please note that although the sound quality is at the pinnacle of Edwardian audio technology (an Edison Amberol Cylinder) it will be considerably less clear than you are accustomed to.

The recording (8.6MB) will open in a new window.

Posted by SCE on September 16, 2006
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Tagged mp3 |

Sir Ernest Shackleton is one of Britain's most famous and widely respected explorers.

The aim of the Nimrod Expedition was to be the first to make a successful journey to the South Pole. With nineteenth-century technology, and the Antarctic still almost completely unknown territory, his was an undertaking equivalent to a modern-day moon-landing.

Shackleton failed. Yet the expedition successfully achieved the first ascent of Mount Erebus, which was the first ascent of any peak in the Antarctic. They were the first team to reach the Magnetic South Pole, and the first team to reach the plateau above the Transantarctic Mountains.

Shackleton, Adams, Wild and Marshall got to within 97 miles of the Pole on January 9th, 1909 before "The Boss" made the pragmatic decision to turn back to base.

By declining what would have been a suicidal race to glory, and choosing instead to preserve the lives of his men, Shackleton not only survived to carry out future exploits but proved himself a leader that the same men would gladly follow through any adversity.

This was the furthest mankind had reached in achieving the South Pole.

More on the web:

Wikipedia has a solid if brief entry.

south-pole.com has a longer, detailed and well-written article online.

Posted by SCE on September 15, 2006
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ITEMS FROM HENRY WORSLEY'S POLAR COLLECTION

Shackleton's Epic Voyage illustrated by Raymond Briggs

Published in 1969 and perhaps one of the least known additions to polar literature this real gem of a book features the unmistakable drawing style of Raymond Briggs. Despite it being aimed at younger readers this tells the story of the Endurance and the boat journey in a style that will appeal to adults as well.

Every page has a drawing that appears to be so simply composed yet it is full of detail and before turning each page one seems to spend much longer journeying through the picture long after having read the informative and succinct text of Michael Brown.

Posted by Tim Fright on September 5, 2006
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