Page 29 - Swann Galleries - Printed & Manuscript Americana - Sale 2310 - April 16, 2013

49 ● (ARCTIC.) Photographic archive of Byrd and Amundsen’s race to the
North Pole at Spitsbergen. 37 photographs, each 2 1/4 x 31/4 inches; minor wear; sleeved
in a small loose-leaf binder. [Spitsbergen, May 1926] [1,000/1,500]
In May 1926, two teams of aviators were competing for the honor of the first flight over the
North Pole. Both teams were preparing for departure simultaneously from the Norwegian
island of Spitsbergen. The American team was led by naval commander Richard E. Byrd in
the plane Josephine Ford, while a European team included Roald Amundsen and Umberto
Nobile in their airship Norge. Byrd’s plane left on 9 May and returned the same day, claiming
victory; his claim has been met with increasing skepticism over the years. Amundsen’s group left
three days later, continuing on to Alaska as proof that they had reached the pole.
These photographs were taken on Spitsbergen as Byrd and Amundsen prepared for departure.
The race was covered by the international press, but these images appear to be unpublished, and
the photographer is unknown. Several of these images show Byrd and his pilot Floyd Bennett
preparing for their flight. The Josephine Ford can be seen in 11 of the photographs. Though
Amundsen and Nobile cannot be seen, their airship can be seen in 5 photographs.
50 ● (ARIZONA.) Ives, Joseph Christmas. Report upon the Colorado River of the
West. 2 folding maps, 33 (of 34) plates, text illustrations. 4to, publisher’s gilt pictorial cloth,
worn, nearly disbound; lacking one of the fossil plates, short tears on maps, moderate
foxing, offsetting from pressed botanical specimens. 36th Congress, 1st Session, Senate Ex.
Doc. Washington, 1861 [250/350]
Ives and his party were the first to map the Grand Canyon, which he famously described here
as “altogether valueless” (page 110). Howes I-92; Sabin 35308; Wagner-Camp 375 (calls
for extra maps in Senate issue, not seen here or elsewhere); Wheat Transmississippi West, pages
IV:95-101.
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