Farthest North by NANSEN, Fridtjof - 1897: 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: Archibald Constable and Company,, 1897. First edition, preceding the first Norwegian edition of the same year. Nansen's expedition was "a remarkable achievement in Polar exploration" (PMM), undertaken to investigate "the polar basin north of Eurasia by drifting in the ice with the currents northwest from the New Siberian Islands across or near the pole" (Arctic Bibliography); a splendid set, rarely found in such collectible condition. "Nansen returned to international acclaim not only for the voyage itself but for its results, proof of a deep Arctic Ocean, free of any land masses or islands, and extensive data on magnetism, zoology, and oceanography. His account of the journey, Farthest North, was a worldwide bestseller and prepared him for an effective life of diplomacy" (Books on Ice). Farthest North, the official account of the first Fram expedition, is beautifully illustrated from photographs and from Nansen's own sketches, for which he "claims no artistic merit," but which are nonetheless highly atmospheric and effective. Like many of the polar books from the heroic age, this is a superbly produced work. 2 volumes, octavo. Original blue-green vertical-ribbed cloth, spines and front covers lettered in gilt, pictorial block in gilt on front covers (of the Fram on vol. I and "Northwards though the Drift-Snows" on vol. II), top and fore edges untrimmed. Etched frontispiece in vol. I, photogravure frontispiece in vol. II, 127 plates of which 16 in colour, 92 illustrations in the text, 4 folding colour maps; titles printed in red and black. Initials "L.Q." in pen on half-title in each volume; small marginal annotation in pencil on p. 222 in vol. II ("June?"); manuscript note loosely inserted, dated 14 August 2012. A touch rubbed, corners bumped, scattered foxing, vol. II cracked to cords between pp. 112-13, "General Map" with repaired tear at stub strengthened with paper on recto. An exceptionally well-preserved set, the gilt sparkling. Arctic Bibliography 11983; Books on Ice 5.2; Howgego III N3; PMM 384.