FUCHS, (Sir) Vivian Ernest (1908-99)
Price: Original price was: $65.00.$45.00Current price is: $45.00.
Description:English explorer whose expeditionary team completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica in 1958.
SIG – Vintage fountain pen ink signature on a card (sufficient room for matting); dated 1977. Accompanied by a small b/w reprint portrait.
Sir Vivian is best known as the leader of the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition, a Commonwealth-sponsored expedition that completed the first overland crossing of Antarctica. Planning for the expedition began in 1953, and envisioned the use of Sno Cat tractors to cross the continent in 100 days, starting at Weddell Sea, ending at Ross Sea, and crossing the South Pole.
Fuchs and his party arrived at Antarctica in January 1957 after camp had been set up. The party departed from Shackleton Base on 24 November 1957. During the trek, a variety of scientific data were collected from seismic soundings and gravi-metric readings. Scientists established the thickness of ice at the pole, and the existence of a land mass beneath the ice. On 2 March 1958, Fuchs and company completed the 100-day trip by reaching Scott Base, having traveled 2,158 miles.
In 1958, Fuchs was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. He co-wrote, with Sir Edmund Hillary, The Crossing of Antarctica.