With the "Aurora" in the Antarctic, 1911-1914.

1919. London, Andrew Melrose, Ltd., [1919]. 8vo. Original blue buckram, image of Aurora blocked in gilt to upper cover, lettered in gilt; pp. xxi, 183; portrait frontispiece, numerous photographic illustrations, charts and diagrams to text, 7 single-page maps and one large folding map; gilt to spine a little faded, minimal rubbing to cloth, occasional spotting to text, else a good tight copy of one of the rarer Antarctic accounts; old ownership inscription to fron paste-down. First edition. 'As captain of the Aurora during Mawson's 1911-14 expedition, Davis was able to produce one of the few first-hand accounts available in print. His publishers, however, clearly had wartime difficulties with the book, most often seen today with its gilt lettering and decoration badly faded' (Taurus). Douglas Mawson led the Australian Antarctic Expedition (1911-1914) aboard the Aurora and Mawson's subsequent popular official account of the expedition, The Home of the Blizzard, offered an extensive overview. His book nonetheless failed to provide much detail about the ship's actual voyages. Davis, the ship's commander, therefore filled a gap in the literature by providing the present record of the Aurora's Antarctic service. Of the two works, Davis' has now become the rarer one. Spence 354; Renard 421; Rosove 87.A1.a; Taurus 101.