HILLARY, Edmund. High Adventure.
London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1955. First edition, first impression. Signed by Edmund Hillary in blue ink on the front free endpaper.
Hillary’s first book and his personal account of the mountaineering career that culminated in the first confirmed ascent of Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay on 29 May 1953.
Particularly desirable for Hillary’s early signature, “E. P. Hillary”, the form found on contemporary 1950s examples and encountered less frequently than the later “Ed Hillary” signature with which he became widely associated.
Beginning with his first experiences in the mountains, Hillary traces the 1951 Everest reconnaissance, the exploration of Cho Oyu, the Swiss attempt on Everest in 1952 and, finally, the successful British expedition of 1953. His account gives a direct record of the South Col route, the icefall, high camps and final summit push.
Octavo, 224 pages. Illustrated with a colour photographic frontispiece, numerous black-and-white photographic plates, maps, diagrams and line drawings.
Bound in the original blue cloth with gilt lettering to the spine, retaining the original pictorial dust jacket priced 16s net. Jacket and binding with age-related wear as shown in the photographs.
