Less Than One Month Back from the Nimrod Expedition to Antarctica, Ernest Shackleton Writes Out and Signs a Quote Inspirational to Him on the Rugged Yukon

Reference for research, publication, and institutions: Raab F13.103

Ernest Shackleton was one of the principal figures of Antarctic Exploration. During the Nimrod expedition of 1907–1909, he and three companions established a new record Farthest South latitude at 88°S, only 97 geographical miles from the South Pole, the largest advance to the Pole in exploration history. Also, members of his team climbed Mount Erebus, the most active Antarctic volcano. For these achievements, Shackleton was knighted by King Edward VII on his return home. He died during an expedition at the age of 47 and his autograph is uncommon. In his 1956 address to the British Science Association, Sir Raymond Priestley, one of his contemporaries, said “Scott for scientific method, Amundsen for speed and efficiency but when disaster strikes and all hope is gone, get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton”.

Robert William Service was a British-Canadian poet and writer, often called “the Bard of the Yukon”. In 1907, he wrote a collection of poems that included The Pines, a poem about the sugged and largely unexplored Yukon.

Poetry played a leading role throughout Shackleton’s life. He used to keep verses of poets close to his heart, and used them to inspire his speeches and his men. Shackleton’s favorite verses are a mixture of Browning, Matthew Arnold, Tennyson and Robert W. Service.

Autograph quotation signed, London, July 30, 1909:

“Ours from the bleak beginning, through the aeons of death-like sleep;
Ours from the shock when the naked rock was hurled from the hissing deep;
Ours through the twilight ages of weary glacier creep.”

This is the first signed quotation of Shackleton to reach the market in a decade and only one of three we found at any date.