86. [Saussure.] Freshfield, D. W. with Henry F. Montagnier. The Life of Horace Benedict de Saussure. London: Edward Arnold, 1920.
£450
First edition. 8vo. pp. xii, 479, [1]; plates, one map, map front endpapers; very good in the original cloth, gilt. A presentation copy to “Judge R. E. Osborne with the compliments of Henry F. Montagnier Champéry July 24 1922”.
Neate F67; Perret 1763. The first full biography of Saussure, and the first in English. Freshfield was assisted by the Alpine scholar Henry Montagnier, who presented this particular copy. The work describes the impetus Saussure gave to Alpinism, and sets in context his 1787 ascent of Mont Blanc, the first ascent following that by Paccard and Balmat in the previous year.
87. Sinigagli, Leone. Climbing Reminiscences of the Dolomites. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1896.
£150
First English edition. Large 8vo. pp. xxiii 224; frontis. from a photo. by Vittorio Sella, 38 plates from photos., mostly of mountain scenes, one folding coloured map; shaken in the original decorative blue cloth, gilt, t.e.g., heavily bumped to head and tail of spine with damage to upper board adjoining tail of spine, contents partially affected, rubbed.
Neate S78; Perret 4068. Leone Sinigaglia (1870-1944), in addition to being an accomplished mountaineer, was by profession a musician and composer. This account of his climbs in the Dolomites includes descriptions of three first ascents, the North Ridge and West Face of Croda da Lago and the South-West face of Monte Cristallo. Sinigaglia died in 1944 of a heart attack on the eve of his being sent to Germany as a slave labourer.
86 87
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88. [Smith, Albert.] The New Game of the Ascent of Mont Blanc. London: A. N. Myers & Co., n.d. c. 1850s.
£2,500
A lithograph Game Sheet “From C. Adlers Printing Establishment Hamburg”, with additional hand colouring and gum arabic, 54 vignettes illustrating the ascent of Mont Blanc, sectionalised in eight parts on linen approx. 54 x 40 cm., with accompanying rules booklet The Game of the Ascent of Mont Blanc (Third Edition) printed by Myers, pp. 15, cloth-backed printed wrappers, slightly chipped and soiled; without the original box, counters and teetotum, now contained in a purpose-made blue cloth flapcase.
Cox 11; Nava I/2; Le Montagne per Gioco 1. Albert Smith (1816-1860) made an ascent of Mont Blanc in 1851 with the scene-painter William Beverley, accompanied by some 40 guides and porters. He subsequently made his experience the subject of a show at London’s Egyptian hall for much of the 1850s. The craze for Mont Blanc that it generated offered huge marketing opportunities, and for sale in the Hall were all sorts of merchandise, including examples of the present game, which uses the principles of ‘snakes and ladders’ for an ascent of Mont Blanc. Several variants of both the game and its accompanying rule book are known, but all are rare.
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