Charles Seymour Wright (1887-1975)

Charles Wright's map of the Southern Journey, 1911

Details

Charles Seymour Wright (1887-1975)
Charles Wright's map of the Southern Journey, 1911
manuscript copy of Marshall's map of Shackleton's Farthest South route, 1908-9, issued to members of the Southern Party, the map showing Shackleton's route and surveys as from 25 November 1908 (in red and black inks), Scott's Barrier Journey 1902-3 (in blue ink), and the Depot-Laying Journey January-April 1911 (in red ink), with Wright's pencil annotations showing the route of his outward march from One Ton Depot (16 November 1911) to the Beardmore Glacier ('Dec 4th', 29th [bottom of Beardmore Glacier], 23rd, 24th [plateau]), with camps and pony deaths variously marked
pencil and blue, black, and red inks on treated silk laid down on board
24¾ x 9¾in. (62.8 x 24.7cm.)

Lot Essay

Scott's journal records, 'Friday 10-Saturday 11 March [1911] Cut 8 folios of plans and tables for sledging journey' -- the entry excised from Scott's Last Expedition. These possibly the plans, based on Shackleton's published chart, to be used for the southern journey, of which Wright's is an example (and Keohane's, lot 96, a traced copy). Scott measured his march against Shackleton's in 1908-09, and used his map as a guide to his road to the Pole (he was later criticised by H.R. Mill for not pathfinding a different route). Bad weather on the Barrier put him about 6 days behind Shackleton to the Beardmore Glacier. In spite of being short-sighted, Wright navigated successfully for most of the southern journey, and has marked his progress in pencil on the chart on the outward journey to the top of the Beadmore Glacier.

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