Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2008 Issue
Books Related to the Polar Regions from Aquila Books
Inscribed account of Peary's pioneering trip to the North Pole.
S.A. (Salomon) Andree attempted to reach the North Pole over a decade before Peary. However, his attempt was by a seemingly less challenging method. Andree was a balloonist, and amidst great fanfare in his native Sweden, he and two companions set out for the sky in 1897. They were never heard from again. It was likely a doomed expedition from the beginning as their ability to steer the balloon was severely limited. Two days and 295 miles out, the balloon having leaked too much hydrogen to stay afloat, it came down. The three were unable to make their way home. Item 59 is part of their story, Andree and His Balloon, by Henri Lachambre, published in 1898. $175.
Item 4 is a follow up: S.A. Andree's Minnesalbum (souvenir album), published in 1930. You may wonder why this album, and the rest of the story, was not published until 32 years after Andree disappeared. The answer is similar to that of the famous French explorer La Perouse. It took that long to find him. Their remains and many of their artifacts were discovered by a science and sealing expedition on a far northern Norwegian Arctic Ocean island in 1930. $200.
You may reach Aquila Books at 403-282-5832 or Aquila@Aquilabooks.com. Their website is www.aquilabooks.com.
