A Negro Explorer at the North Pole
New York: Fredrick A. Stokes Company, 1912.
First edition. Signed by Matthew Henson on the page following the half title, inscribed to former owner and dated 3/7/54, about a year before his death. xx, [ii],200 pp. Bound in publisher's blue cloth with photographic frontispiece mounted on front board, lettered in white. Near Fine with a little rubbing to spine lettering and edges, front hinge a little free, a few reading smudges, aborted inscription by Henson on half title with only the word "To." Very rare signed.
Matthew Alexander Henson was the first African-American Arctic explorer, an associate of Robert Peary on seven voyages over a period of nearly 23 years. They made six voyages and spent a total of 18 years in expeditions. Henson served as a navigator and craftsman, traded with Inuit and learned their language, and was known as Peary's "first man" for these arduous travels. The first to break the color barrier at the Explorer’s Club, Henson was also the only member of Peary’s party to master the Inuit language and method of driving dog sleds. His only descendants are through his children with an Inuit woman, Akatingwah. This book helped to bring Henson’s accomplishments as the first black polar explorer into the popular conscience. A US postal stamp was issued featuring Henson in 1986, and in 1988 he and his wife, Lucy, were reinterred at Arlington National Cemetery near the grave of Robert Peary.
Price: $12,500.00