Bonhams 1793 : RITSCHER (ALFRED) Deutsche Antarktische Expedition 1938/39 mit dem Flugzeugstutzpunkt der Deutschen Lufthansa, A.G.MS, "Schwabenland", Kapitan A. Kottas. 2 vol., FIRST EDITION, Leipzig, Koehler & Amelang, 1942

Deutsche Antarktische Expedition 1938/39 mit dem Flugzeugstutzpunkt der Deutschen Lufthansa A.G.MS, "Schwabenland", Kapitan A. Kottas. 2 vol., first edition, plates and illustrations (mostly photographic, some printed in colour, others 3-D), stereo glasses in pocket, instruction note printed on blue paper loosely inserted, 4 large folding maps in pocket at end, publisher's cloth-backed boards [Conrad, pp. 307-13; Grierson, pp. 493-98; OCLC 17845666], 8vo (246 x 176mm.), Leipzig, Koehler & Amelang, 1942

Sold for £3,750 inc. premium

Footnotes

AN EXCEPTIONALLY FINE COPY. A record of the third German Antarctic expedition. Dedicated to Hermann Göring, it was published by the Nazis during the middle of World War II. It is a chilling reminder of the Nazi philosophy "Heute gehört uns Deutschland und morgen die ganze Welt". Ritscher, a pilot himself, took two small planes to Antarctica, dropping darts with Nazi swastika flags onto the ice to claim the continent for Germany.

An uncommon title, copies perhaps destroyed during the war, complete with a pair of stereo glasses to view twenty of the plates which were printed in three dimensions.

Provenance: Martin L. Greene (Seattle) from Thomas Schneider (Augsburg).

Category: Books / Books, Maps and Manuscripts

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