Chessler Books
Rock Climbing - Mountaineering - Exploration
New - Used - Collectible - Signed
Chessler Books Accepts PAYPAL Chessler Books Accepts VISA Chessler Books Accepts MASTERCARD Chessler Books Accepts DISCOVER CARD Chessler Books Accepts AMERICAN EXPRESS
All Orders Shipped via United States Postal Service   Chessler Books Ships Via USPS
Author:
Title:
Keyword:
Item #:
A B C D E F G H I
J K L M Mc N O P Q
R S T U V W X Y Z
Item #: BK2492-856
SHADOW OF THE MATTERHORN: THE LIFE OF EDWARD WHYMPER 2011 1st UK ed Hardcover DJ Fine SIGNED by Ian Smith
By Smith, Ian
Price: $79.95


Add to wish list


Detailed Product Description
UK, Carrig, 2011, 1st edition. Many b/w illustrations by Edward Whymper, plus modern color photos. Hardcover with dust jacket. Fine.

SIGNED on the title page by Ian Smith


In 1865 Edward Whymper was the second mountaineering Superstar (the first was Albert Smith 15 years earlier), and his ascent of the Matterhorn electrified England where the new sport of mountain climbing was captivating both the gentlemen of means who took up the sport, and the masses of people who read about climbing in the newspapers, magazines and books of the day.
 
Richly illustrated with Whymper’s engravings and previously unpublished photographs, this biography – the first in 70 years – uses new material from archives around the world, and from Whymper’s family, to give a fuller picture of this artisan from London, who had such an impact on the story of mountaineering.
 
A new assessment of Whymper’s achievements comes with previously unknown details about his remarkable family, and his short – lived marriage. Whymper’s diaries and notebooks are used here for the first time to show his dry, self–deprecating sense of humor, and his unusual perceptiveness about the Greenlanders and the people he met in Ecuador.
 
When just twenty-five years of age, Edward Whymper crowned a meteoric climbing career with the first ascent of the Matterhorn, the last great unclimbed summit in the Alps. However, this triumph came with a notoriety and a lasting sorrow due to the catastrophic accident on the descent that killed 4 climbers.
 
Whymper then turned his attention to the Arctic and made two adventurous expeditions to north west Greenland, described here for the first time. A remarkably successful trip to Ecuador, where he climbed Chimborazo and the country’s other highest mountains and camped on the rim of Cotopaxi, a live volcano, and established the modus operandi for expeditions to the greater ranges. His 1892 book about the Andes, Travels amongst the Great Andes of the Equator, was also a bestseller.
 
From a large family in south London Whymper trained as a wood engraver, and this craft provided his living and financed his travels. His mountaineering achievements have overshadowed his distinction as an engraver, but new research shows the importance of his book illustrations. 

A talented writer, Whymper produced one of the finest and earliest best-selling mountaineering books ever written, Scrambles amongst the Alps, about his heroic quest for the Matterhorn. The book is still in print, we have paperbacks for $9.99 only 153 years after it was written (Amazon's price is $23.10, same edition.)

Ian Smith provides a sympathetic picture of a complex and misunderstood person, whose youthful exuberance matured into the ambition to be known as an explorer. 

Other Items You Might Like

  • Similar Items Available
  • Items From This Author
  • Items From This Category
NEW BOOKS 2 Nov 2011
By: Â
[ SOLD ]
- Item #  
View Details
TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES OF THE EQUATOR Edward Whymper 1987 Color Illustrated ed Hardcover 2 copies available
By: Whymper, Edward and Loren McIntyre (Photos)
Price $39.95
- Item # OP1729D-8342p
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS IN THE YEARS 1860-69 Edward Whymper 1871 UK 1st edition Near Fine
By: Whymper, Edward
Price $1475.00
- Item # OP1787C-829
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS IN THE YEARS 1860-69 Edward Whymper 1986 Illustrated ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine-Fine Multiple Copies Available
By: Whymper, Edward and John Cleare (color photos)
Price $40.00 ~ Regular $50.00, You Save $10.00 (20%)
- Item # OP1787J-8492
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS IN THE YEARS 1860 - 1869 Edward Whymper 2002 New Softcover 2 Copies Available
By: Whymper, Edward
Price $9.99 ~ Regular $14.00, You Save $4.01 (29%)
- Item # BK1689A-9402
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MATTERHORN: THE QUINTESSENTIAL MOUNTAIN Graeme Wallace and Edward Whymper 2016 Hardcover DJ Fine Multiple copies available
By: Wallace, Graeme and Edward Whymper
Price $39.95 ~ Regular $79.95, You Save $40.00 (50%)
- Item # BK8490-7993p
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
TRAVELS AMONGST THE GREAT ANDES OF THE EQUATOR 2 Volumes Edward Whymper 1891-92 1st UK ed Hardcover Very Good 2 Sets Available
By: Whymper, Edward
Price $299.99 ~ Regular $750.00, You Save $450.01 (60%)
- Item # OP1729A-8292p
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE APPRENTICESHIP OF A MOUNTAINEER: EDWARD WHYMPER'S LONDON DIARY 1855-1859
By: Whymper, Edward, Edited by Ian Smith
Price $125.00
- Item # BK8360-799
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS AND DOWN THE RHINE Edward & Blanche Murphy 1884 Hardcover Near Fine
By: Whymper, Edward and Lady Blanche Murphy
Price $59.95
- Item # OP1638H-849
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
MEN AND THE MATTERHORN Gaston Rebuffat 1967 1st UK or US ed Hardcover DJ Fine
By: Rebuffat, Gaston
Price $95.00 ~ Regular $150.00, You Save $55.00 (37%)
- Item # OP1768B-843p
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
Sorry, we were unable find any similar items available by this author.


JIM BRIDWELL'S CLIMBING ADVENTURES: A CLIMBER'S PASSION Jim Bridwell 1992 1st ed Softcover Near Fine Multiple copies available
By: Bridwell, Jim and Keith Peal
Price $29.99 ~ Regular $45.00, You Save $15.01 (33%)
- Item # BK202-7994
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
FROM THE OCEAN TO THE SKY Edmund Hillary 1979 1st US ed Hardcover DJ/No DJ Near Fine 3 Copies Available
By: Hillary, Edmund
Price $2.99 ~ Regular $25.00, You Save $22.01 (88%)
- Item # OP322A-8323
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE MOUNTAIN OF MY FEAR David Roberts 1968 1st US ed Hardcover DJ Very Good-Near Fine [Not Signed] 3 Copies Available
By: Roberts, David
Price $45.00 ~ Regular $125.00, You Save $80.00 (64%)
- Item # OP234A-8504
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
PEAK PURSUITS: THE EMERGENCE OF MOUNTAINEERING IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY Caroline Schaumann 2020 1st ed New hardcover Multiple copies available
By: Schaumann, Caroline
Price $7.95 ~ Regular $50.00, You Save $42.05 (84%)
- Item # BK5903-84820
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
SCRAMBLES AMONGST THE ALPS IN THE YEARS 1860-69 Edward Whymper 1986 Illustrated ed Hardcover DJ Near Fine-Fine Multiple Copies Available
By: Whymper, Edward and John Cleare (color photos)
Price $40.00 ~ Regular $50.00, You Save $10.00 (20%)
- Item # OP1787J-8492
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
THE ASCENT OF NANDA DEVI H. W. Tilman 1937 1st UK edition Hardcover Near Fine
By: Tilman, H. W.
Price $35.00
- Item # OP1735-832
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
GAME FACES: FIVE EARLY AMERICAN CHAMPIONS AND THER SPORTS THEY CHANGED [Fanny Workman] Thomas Pauly 2012 1st ed Softcover Near Fine
By: Pauly, Thomas H.
Price $19.95 ~ Regular $25.00, You Save $5.05 (20%)
- Item # BK4318-861
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
WIND BETWEEN THE WORLDS Robert Ford 1957 1st edition Hardcover DJ Fine SIGNED by Robert Ford
By: Ford, Robert.
Price $45.00
- Item # OP967-857
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
NO PICNIC ON MOUNT KENYA Felice Benuzzi 1953 2nd prtg Hardcover DJ Fine
By: Benuzzi, Felice
Price $69.95
- Item # OP23C-857
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart
BROTHERHOOD OF THE ROPE: THE BIOGRAPHY OF CHARLES HOUSTON Bernadette McDonald 2007 1st ed Hardcover [Not Signed] Multiple copies available Winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize
By: McDonald, Bernadette
Price $14.99 ~ Regular $39.95, You Save $24.96 (62%)
- Item # BK2183A-7993
View Details
Add To Cart
Adding...
Added! Click To View Cart