Dark blue cloth binding. 2 volumes.

During the winter of 1910–11, Scott was frequently to be found writing copiously in his diary, pipe in hand, as famously recorded by Ponting (no. 32). ‘Once, during the winter, I asked him if he had yet started on his book. His reply was: “No fear! I’ll leave that until I get home.” From which I gathered that his Journal was to be used merely as notes which later would be elaborated into his official account’. Journal keeping was second nature to naval officers, and Scott filled 12 notebooks with his daily doings, impressions and the progress of the expedition, even while sledging. After Scott’s death his journals were returned to his widow, who put in train  arrangements made with Scott’s publishers, Smith, Elder & Co. Leonard Huxley, their chief editor, made a continuous narrative out of the 12 notebooks with their often multiple entries, and removed certain passages that were critical of expedition members. Scott’s self-criticism remained, giving a portrait of a complex introspective character. Huxley also included the text of letters written to the relatives of those who died with Scott, and a facsimile of Scott’s ‘Message to the Public’, in which Scott did his best to explain the disaster and plead for assistance for the bereaved. The first edition came out in a handsome two-volume set, complete with coloured plates, maps, sketches and photographs, and was so popular that it required five print runs between November 1913 and February 1914. Lady Scott presented this copy to the King. The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) was so struck by it that he sat up late to finish it, later writing an essay on the expedition that caused especial pride to his parents and mentors. He wrote in his diary: ‘It is a most fascinating book & a wonderful story of pluck in the face of ghastly hardship & suffering’. On a trip to Norway in 1914, the Prince of Wales met and lunched with Amundsen, whom he found ‘most interesting’; and the British envoy in Norway, Mansfeldt Findlay, recorded that ‘Amundsen was astonished by The Prince’s accurate knowledge of the history of the recent antarctic expeditions … I am not surprised as I noticed that The Prince appeared to know Scott’s book almost by heart’.