Scrambles Amongst the Alps - (Whymper)

Scrambles Amongst the Alps
Edward Whymper
John Murray, London, 1871, Second U.K. Edition (same year as First Edition, the second printing), the Deluxe Edition, half-calf leather, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, spine with decorative gilt lettering and raised bands. A very light sprinkle of foxing on preliminaries only, otherwise Near-Fine. Octavo, well-illustrated throughout, (xx), 432 pages, five folding maps, Frontispiece, 20 other full-page illustrations, 90 vignettes in the text. Second printing of First Edition, same year 1871, the Deluxe leather edition is now a very scarce classic. A landmark of mountaineering literature, it is considered by many to be the most famous mountain travel book, and by far the most famous mountaineer. Whymper's unforgettable 1865 first ascent of the Matterhorn ("that awful mountain") on his 8th attempt described here, remains the classic mountain story of triumph and tragedy of all time. His story of the climb includes all 7 previous attempts from 1861. It forever fixed the Matterhorn as 'the mountain which most deeply stirred the imagination of mountaineers' (UCLA Farquahar Collection).
Rare, beautifully bound Deluxe Edition. Very Good Plus. $2,000