First up is on January 3 when A ‘Midwinter menu’ printed during Ernest Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition (the 1907-09 Nimrod expedition) will be offered by Golding Young & Mawer auction. The menu marks a fictitious feast including penguin patties, seal cutlets and roast reindeer and comes from an archive of related items from an anonymous local vendor. It will be offered in six lots with an estimated total value in the region of £10,000-15,000 at the Grantham auction. Details of the menu and the sale can be found at thesaleroom.com.
The 'Midwinter Menu' produced by the British Antarctic Expedition 1907-09 in an archive to be offered in the Golding Young & Mawer auction on January 3.
At Stroud Auctions’ sale on January 8-9, lots include a penguin egg and display case estimated at £1000-2000.
The sale includes a number of items from the estate of Captain Thomas Newland Rosser, dockmaster at Cardiff’s Bute Docks (deputy from 1885, appointed head dockmaster in 1896). Captain Rosser was in charge when Captain Robert Falcon Scott set sail for the Antarctic on The Terra Nova Expedition 1910-13.
Captain Rosser met Captain Scott on several occasions and obtained signed ephemera and objects from Scott and expedition members. Lots from his estate at Stroud include a penguin egg and pre- and post-expedition menus.
Scott had hoped to become the first to reach the geographic South Pole on the ill-fated expedition. He reached it with four men in his party on January 17, 1912, only to find the Norwegian team led by Roald Amundsen had preceded them by 34 days. Scott's party died on the return journey from the pole.
The scientific contributions of the expedition were overshadowed by the deaths of Scott and his party. However, the 12 scientists who participated – the largest Antarctic scientific team of its time – made notable discoveries in zoology, botany, geology, glaciology, and meteorology. The Terra Nova returned to Bute Docks on June 14, 1913, with more than 2100 plants, animals, and fossils, over 400 of which were new to science.
The penguin egg in a mahogany case to be offered at Stroud was presented to Captain Rosser when the ship returned from the ill-fated expedition in 1913. Details of Stroud Auctions sale can be found at thesaleroom.com.
Tennants Auctioneers will offer The Roger Casson Collection on January 10. The sale includes a private library of polar exploration, Franklin search, travel and local history items at the sale in Leyburn, North Yorkshire.
Lots include Ernest Shackleton’s The Heart of the Antarctic, the story of the British Antarctic expedition 1907-1909. Heinemann, 1909. The two volumes include 16 signatures of the Shore Party. It is estimated at £7000-10,000. Details of the lot and the sale are available on thesaleroom.com.
Ernest Shackleton’s The Heart of the Antarctic, the story of the British Antarctic expedition 1907-1909 estimated at £7000-10,000.
