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Lot# 4722 - Auction 284 - 290

  • Lot# : 4722 Great Britain

    Jackson - Harmsworth Arctic Expedition 1881: 1 d. lilac (2), Jubilee 1887/92 ½ d. vermilion and 2 d. green & carmine tied to registered 1896 cover with complete contents, mailed by Reginald Koettlitz from "Elmwood, Cape Flora, North Brook Island, Franz Josef Land", tied by "West Strand / London" cds's (Sept 8) in black. The enclosed letter (full transcript with the lot) was written on July 31, 1896 and describes the famous meeting with the Norwegian explorer Fridtjof Nansen and his sole companion, Lieutenant Hjalmar Johansen, who had been living entirely on walrus and polar bear for over sixteen months in the Arctic circle; and also thanks the British Vice-Consul in Archangel, Henry Cooke for his letter and assistance. Mailed from the UK (possibly by the returning zoologist Harry Fisher) and received in Archangel on Sept 18 with red manuscript docketing of receipt and Archangel cds on reverse (Sept 5, julian = Sept 17 gregorian). A rare and extraordinary cover.rnrnNote: The Jackson–Harmsworth expedition of 1894–1897 to Franz Josef Land was led by British Arctic explorer Frederick George Jackson and financed by the newspaper proprietor Alfred Harmsworth. Jackson had been misled by false maps into believing that Franz Joseph Land was a land mass that extended to the North Pole. The survey, which was the main work of the expedition eventually proved that the land was in fact an archipelago, whose northernmost island stretched no further than 81° N. The expedition party consisted of astronomer and meteorologist Albert Armitage, physician and geologist Reginald Koettlitz, mineralogist J.F. Child, and botanist and zoologist Harry Fisher—who in 1896 was replaced by William S. Bruce.rnrn 
    Starting bid : 1,000 CHF
    Hammer price : 3,800 CHF