illustrated book entitled FARTHEST NORTH BY FRIDTJOF NANSEN, 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.  8 full page colour illustrations 48 full page b/w illustrations as well as 45 in-text illustrations.  Map to rear has been removed. This is Vol 2 only. Published in 1897 by Archibald Constable and Company.

Nansen undertook this highly important journey to prove his theory that a drift-current moved across the polar regions from the Bering Strait and the area of New Siberia Islands towards the east coast of Greenland. Nansen"s theory was based on a number of indications, not the least of which was the discovery of portions of the wreck of the Jeannett, which had been lost of the New Siberia Islands in 1881, that were found on drift ice off the south-west coast of Greenland. Early whaling experience and the traverse of Greenland on snow shoes and sleighs in 1888-9, convinced him that Arctic exploration was feasible on revolutionary lines. He set himself to design a ship that, by its shape, would evade the crushing pressure of the ice. The idea was to deliberately allow the ship to be frozen into the ice-pack, and then to drift across the Arctic region. His ship, the Fram was specially built in a Scottish yard.

Dark green buckram hardboards with gold lettering.  Boards and pages in good condition for age.  Pages rough cut.

I do have some other vintage and rare books for sale take a look