Beschreibung:

[SHACKLETON, Ernest (1874–1922)]. –– BROWNING, Robert (1812–1889). Poetical Works of… London: Smith and Elder, 1906. 2 volumes in one, 8vo. Early half olive green leather gilt, spine in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands, gilt centerpieces in 5 compartments, gilt–lettering in remainder (some staining to covers, rubbing to bands, wear indicative to polar climates). Provenance: PRESENTED TO SHACKLETON AND THE OFFICERS OF THE NIMROD BY A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY, inscribed on the front flyleaf: “To Lieut. E.H. Shackleton, & the Officers of the ‘Nimrod’, with very best wishes for a happy & successful voyage, from Agnes S. Fox, September 1907”. Additional notations on flyleaves of motivational quotes by famous authors to help guide Shackleton on his voyages to the South Pole: “The man who is great of soul is one who counts himself worthy, being worthy of great things” (Dante); “So nigh to grandeur is our dust, so nigh is God to man, where duty whispers low ‘the must’, the soul replies – ‘I can’–” (Emerson); “After he had patiently endured he obtained” (Paul); and a pair of quotes by his favorite author, Robert Browning “One who never turned his back but marched breast forward, Never doubted clouds would break, Never dreamed, though right were worsted, wrong would triumph, Held we fall to rise, are baffled to fight better. Sleep to wake…” and “Let a man contend to the uttermost for his life’s set prize” (this last quote is inscribed on the back of Shackleton’s gravestone in Grytviken Harbour, South Georgia). Fox was a member of the Royal Geographical Society and possibly a sponsor to the expedition. In correspondence obtained by an heir, Shackleton writes to Fox, most likely in response to the inscribed poem Fox wrote in the book: “We are going to win through. If it had all been easy even the months of getting the money together the game would not be so good to my mind. I just love these Browning words: ‘a man should strive to the uttermost for his life set prize’. Yours ever sincerely, Ernest Shackleton”. On 30 September 1907, Shackleton wrote a postcard to Fox: “I think this is the best shot of the ‘Nimrod’ she is leaving Torquay”. On 7 August 1907, Shackleton sets sail for New Zealand which would be the starting point for the expedition to Antarctica. On New Year’s Day 1908, the Nimrod would make its way further south to establish camp at Cape Royds in the McMurdo Sounds. Agnes Fox would have sent this book to Shackleton while he was stationed in New Zealand as the inscription dates “September 1907” and the correspondence between the two also date to this month. The Nimrod Expedition or the British Antarctic Expedition of 1907–1909 was the first of three successful expeditions to the Antarctic led by Shackleton. Its main target was to be first to the South Pole. Although this was not attained, Shackleton and crew reached a Farthest South latitude 88° 23’ S, just 97.5 nautical miles (180.6 km; 112.2 mi) from the pole. This was by far the longest southern polar journey to that date and a record convergence on either Pole. Though Shackleton is best known for his Polar expeditions, Shackleton’s love of poetry, especially Browning’s poetry, is also well documented. In a story reported by the journalist Harold Begbie in 1922, it was stated that Shackleton once described himself as one of those rough spirits for whom school is chafing and that one fine day, he stuffed a Browning into his pocket, took all of his savings and went to Liverpool, shipping out on a vessel at a shilling a month. Although Lady Shackleton claimed responsibility for Ernest’s love of Browning, she once recalled that his cousin, Canon Woosnam, remembered seeing him board his first ship and noticed a volume of Browning sticking out of his pocket. “Shackleton could laud Browning’s intellectual insights into mysteries of the human condition. He could revel in the poet’s lyricism and embrace Browning’s troubadour spirit singing of romantic love. He cou