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Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1917)
Details
Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1914-1917)
A fragment of the sail of the James Caird, approximately 15 x 50mm.
pinned to the head of a letter to Lady Shackleton by an unknown correspondent (apparently 'Elise' but possibly 'Ellie' i.e. Eleanor Shackleton, sister of the explorer), Cambridge, 30 August 1922, 4 pages, 4to, with an envelope annotated in Lady Shackleton's hand 'Piece of sail "James Caird"'; and a portrait photograph of Shackleton, head and shoulders, 52 x 42mm.
PROVENANCE:
Lady Shackleton, and thence by descent.
The letter, evidently by an intimate of the Shackleton family, refers to the sail ('I am enclosing the sail in this with my love. Its the same as the bit in my locket'), discusses the Shackleton children, in particular Cecily, who has just been on a Guides camp with the author of the letter ('She reminded me more and more of the "Boss"'), and sympathises with Lady Shackleton in the painful process of collaborating on the first biography of the explorer (by H.R. Mill).
It was on the James Caird that Shackleton made his epic journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia. The boat was brought back to Liverpool by Captain Thom on the S.S. Woodville, probably as deck cargo, arriving on 5 December 1919. It was exhibited in various locations in the following years, including a famous stint on the roof of Selfridge's in February 1920; the boat was presented to Dulwich College by John Quiller Rowett in March 1922, and remains there. Both sails are visible rolled up in an early photograph of the Shackleton Memorial at Dulwich, but only one (identified as the mizzen lug sail) survives in the school's collection. Until now nothing has been known of the fate of the larger sail. The survival of various fragments of the main sail in family possession suggests that parts were deliberately cut out and given to friends and relations.
A fragment of the sail of the James Caird, approximately 15 x 50mm.
pinned to the head of a letter to Lady Shackleton by an unknown correspondent (apparently 'Elise' but possibly 'Ellie' i.e. Eleanor Shackleton, sister of the explorer), Cambridge, 30 August 1922, 4 pages, 4to, with an envelope annotated in Lady Shackleton's hand 'Piece of sail "James Caird"'; and a portrait photograph of Shackleton, head and shoulders, 52 x 42mm.
PROVENANCE:
Lady Shackleton, and thence by descent.
The letter, evidently by an intimate of the Shackleton family, refers to the sail ('I am enclosing the sail in this with my love. Its the same as the bit in my locket'), discusses the Shackleton children, in particular Cecily, who has just been on a Guides camp with the author of the letter ('She reminded me more and more of the "Boss"'), and sympathises with Lady Shackleton in the painful process of collaborating on the first biography of the explorer (by H.R. Mill).
It was on the James Caird that Shackleton made his epic journey from Elephant Island to South Georgia. The boat was brought back to Liverpool by Captain Thom on the S.S. Woodville, probably as deck cargo, arriving on 5 December 1919. It was exhibited in various locations in the following years, including a famous stint on the roof of Selfridge's in February 1920; the boat was presented to Dulwich College by John Quiller Rowett in March 1922, and remains there. Both sails are visible rolled up in an early photograph of the Shackleton Memorial at Dulwich, but only one (identified as the mizzen lug sail) survives in the school's collection. Until now nothing has been known of the fate of the larger sail. The survival of various fragments of the main sail in family possession suggests that parts were deliberately cut out and given to friends and relations.
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