LOT RR Auction  /  RR Auction Quality Autograph Auction 378  / 

349

Robert Falcon Scott

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:15,000.00 - 17,000.00 USD
Robert Falcon Scott

Bidding Over

The auction is over for this lot.
The auctioneer wasn't accepting online bids for this lot.

Contact the auctioneer for information on the auction results.

Search for other lots to bid on...
Auction Date:2011 Nov 09 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:5 Rt 101A Suite 5, Amherst, New Hampshire, 03031, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS signed “R. Scott,” four pages on two adjoining sheets, 4.5 x 7, British Antarctic Expedition Terra Nova R. Y. S. letterhead, October 1911. In a letter to Mrs. Evans, wife of Edgar Evans, who was part of the crew who accompanied Scott on the tragic Terra Nova Expedition (1910–1912), Scott writes on the eve of their last Antarctic voyage, in full: “Although I have never met you, your husband has told me a great deal about you so that I can imagine that you and the children will be waiting to see him home again next year and will be very disappointed if he isn’t able to come. So I write to you to tell you that he is very well indeed, very strong and in very good condition.

It is possible we may not finish our work this year and in that case he will stop with me for a second season. If so you must try and remember that he is certain to be in the best of health and that it will be all better when he does come home. When that time comes I hope he will get some good billet and not have to leave you again. He is such an old friend of mine and has done so well on this Expedition that he deserves all I can do for him. So I must hope you won’t be anxious or worried.” Light uniform toning to both inside pages and upper portion of signed page, scattered light soiling and edge toning, two small separations at each end of the central horizontal fold, tape across the top edge of the inside pages, and light mirroring on the bottom half of the first page from the letterhead stamp, otherwise fine condition.

In a time when explorers set out to reveal uncharted territory, make and break radical records, and face harrowing conditions in the name of discovery and greatness, these men sought to confront and conquer the unknown at every opportunity. In 1901, Scott, Evans, and famed polar adventurer Ernest Shackleton survived three months trekking through the Antarctic in search of the South Pole during Shackleton’s Discovery mission. Now, in 1911, Evans and Scott would take to the great polar tundra again, with hopes fueled by their previous successes.

Evans, having recently married with three children, sought desperately to make a name for himself as a man and as a respected adventurer, and Scott knew no better man to serve by his side. After reaching their destination on January 17, 1912, only to find that Roald Amundsen’s crew had beat them by 33 days, the defeated crew started the harrowing journey home. After suffering a cut to his hand and severe head trauma during a fall, Evans died on February 17, 1912. According to the consignor, this letter could have reached Mrs. Evans as late as May of 1912, bringing the once serene hopefulness of this letter to a devastating halt. The content and timing of this letter present a remarkable surviving testament to the men who risked their lives in the name of pure exploration and adventure.
Sign In to Bookmark Lot