Details
[Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (1874-1922)]
A series of 27 autograph letters signed (one by a secretary) by Dr Hugh Robert Mill to Lady Shackleton, discussing his Life of Shackleton, 16 April 1922 - 2 March 1933, together with a manuscript list by Mill of material used for the Life and returned to Lady Shackleton, an autograph manuscript by Lady Shackleton giving a chronology of Shackleton's life, a typescript copy of this and of a note by Lady Shackleton on Shackleton family history, two autograph letters signed by Leonard Tripp concerning the Aurora relief expedition, five letters from William Heinemann Ltd, and a draft agreement for the publication of the book, altogether 40 letters and documents; with a collection of reviews of the book, excised from newspapers, in two folders.provenance: Lady Shackleton, and thence by descent.
A correspondence discussing the first biography of Shackleton, commissioned by Lady Shackleton in April 1922, only three months after her husband's death. The first letter by Mill agrees to undertake the project, and proposes that the portrait of Shackleton should be 'entirely personal bringing in the Antarctic only as the field in which his character was asserting itself for the time being'. The correspondence follows the progress of the biography, with valuable information on the sources used by Mill (Frank Wild has a 'miraculous power of keeping his own counsel'), discussing the dangers of contentious material, particularly with relation to Captain Scott ('I want to make sure that the references to Scott will not give rise to any controversy') and the difficulties with Captain England on the Nimrod, and giving some indication of the degree of Lady Shackleton's supervision of the project. Dr Hugh Robert Mill's first acquaintance with Shackleton arose when instructing him the measurement of water salinity at the beginning of the Discovery expedition in 1901; Mill became something of a father-figure. His Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton (1924) remains valuable as a contemporary summation of Shackleton's character and achievements, and retains importance as a factual document because of the close collaboration of Lady Shackleton and members of the explorer's inner circle.
(2)
A series of 27 autograph letters signed (one by a secretary) by Dr Hugh Robert Mill to Lady Shackleton, discussing his Life of Shackleton, 16 April 1922 - 2 March 1933, together with a manuscript list by Mill of material used for the Life and returned to Lady Shackleton, an autograph manuscript by Lady Shackleton giving a chronology of Shackleton's life, a typescript copy of this and of a note by Lady Shackleton on Shackleton family history, two autograph letters signed by Leonard Tripp concerning the Aurora relief expedition, five letters from William Heinemann Ltd, and a draft agreement for the publication of the book, altogether 40 letters and documents; with a collection of reviews of the book, excised from newspapers, in two folders.provenance: Lady Shackleton, and thence by descent.
A correspondence discussing the first biography of Shackleton, commissioned by Lady Shackleton in April 1922, only three months after her husband's death. The first letter by Mill agrees to undertake the project, and proposes that the portrait of Shackleton should be 'entirely personal bringing in the Antarctic only as the field in which his character was asserting itself for the time being'. The correspondence follows the progress of the biography, with valuable information on the sources used by Mill (Frank Wild has a 'miraculous power of keeping his own counsel'), discussing the dangers of contentious material, particularly with relation to Captain Scott ('I want to make sure that the references to Scott will not give rise to any controversy') and the difficulties with Captain England on the Nimrod, and giving some indication of the degree of Lady Shackleton's supervision of the project. Dr Hugh Robert Mill's first acquaintance with Shackleton arose when instructing him the measurement of water salinity at the beginning of the Discovery expedition in 1901; Mill became something of a father-figure. His Life of Sir Ernest Shackleton (1924) remains valuable as a contemporary summation of Shackleton's character and achievements, and retains importance as a factual document because of the close collaboration of Lady Shackleton and members of the explorer's inner circle.
(2)
Special notice
No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis
This lot is subject to Collection and Storage charges