New York, Ziff-Davis, 1977, 1st US edition. 153 pp, b/w photos, maps. Original turquoise cloth hardcover with gold lettering on spine and dust jacket. Fine condition.
Spitsbergen and Greenland. [Neate T48.]
Harold William 'Bill' Tilman 1898–1977) was a mountaineer and explorer, famous for his Himalayan climbs and sailing voyages.
Tilman joined the British Army and fought in the First World War, including the Battle of the Somme. His climbing career, however, began with Eric Shipton in Kenya, with their joint traverse of Mount Kenya in 1929 and their ascents of Kilimanjaro and the fabled 'Mountains of the Moon' Ruwenzori. Shipton and Tilman formed one of the most famed partnerships in mountaineering history. When it came time to leave Africa, Tilman was not content with merely taking a ship home, but rode a bicycle across the continent to the West Coast where he embarked for England.
He saw service in the Second World War, in North Africa, and at Dunkirk. He was dropped by parachute behind enemy lines to fight with Albanian and Italian partisans.
Tilman was involved in two of the 1930s Mount Everest expeditions – participating in the 1935 Reconnaissance Expedition, and reaching 27,200 feet without oxygen as the expedition leader in 1938. After penetrating the Nanda Devi sanctuary with Eric Shipton in 1934, Tilman went on to the first ascent of Nanda Devi with Noel Odell in 1936. During his extensive exploration of the areas of Langtang, Ganesh and Manang in 1949 he was the first to ascend Paldor, 5896 meters, and found the pass named after him beyond Gangchempo.
Following his military career behind enemy lines in the Second World War, Tilman took up deep sea sailing. Sailing in deep seas on the cutter Mischief, which he purchased in 1954, and subsequently on his other pilot cutters Sea Breeze and Baroque, Tilman voyaged to Arctic and Antarctic waters in search of new and uncharted mountains to climb. Tilman disappeared at sea during a sailing trip to the Antarctic in 1977.
He has been described by some as a self-indulgent risk-taker, impervious to the sensitivities of others; one who had little time for those who didn’t live up to his high standards and expectations; and he was even accused of disliking women. In reality, these labels were grossly inaccurate, for he was in fact a very shy, private man who was self-effacing and hated publicity. He was a deep thinker, an avid reader of the classics, and although he never married, he adored his sister and two nieces with whom he lived when not on some distant shore.
Tilman had a great sense of humor, perhaps too subtle for many of his listeners. It was one of his greatest joys to laugh at himself, and see the funny side of life's little foibles. An example is his 'discovery' of Tilman's Disease, characterized as 'the inability to put one foot before the other.' He wrote seven books about his mountain travels, and eight books on his years sailing to extreme climates. One of the last 'gentleman adventurers,' Bill Tilman's stoic and courageous exploits have earned him a place of honor as one of the greatest in the pantheon of explorers.
