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An ALS by Amundsen in his native Norwegian, penned just a year before his
An ALS by Amundsen in his native Norwegian, penned just a year before his
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Description:

Amundsen Roald 1872 - 1928 An ALS by Amundsen in his native Norwegian, penned just a year before his disappearance



Single page ALS signed and dated by Roald Amundsen, scripted in his native Norwegian, on a 5" x 8" page with letterhead of The Imperial Hotel of Tokyo. Dated "13 VII 27", and signed in full signature as "Roald Amundsen". Accompanied by the Japan stamped and post marked envelope, 5" x 4.5". Near fine, with Japanese characters to left edge. Neatly slit open along top edge. Included is a black and white glossy press photo of Lt. Peary and Capt. Amundsen, with photographers credit inked to verso, 5" x 5.5". Photo with wear, and some surface paper loss, mostly located along outer margins. Accompanied by the English translation.

Amundsen and Oscar Wisting are arguably the first men to reach each geographical pole, by ground or by air. His South Pole exhibition was between 1910-1912, while his infamous North Pole exhibition came much later starting with the launch of Maud in 1916/1917, meeting numerous disasters, but ultimately finalizing in a successful mission in 1926, a full 10 years later. Amundsen's letter was written in 1927, after his noted accomplishments, and just one year before his plane disappeared in a search and rescue mission.

Amundsen's formidable plan to reach the North Pole included to freeze the Maud into the polar ice cap and drift towards the North Pole (as Nansen had done with the Fram), and he did so off Cape Chelyuskin. But, the ice became so thick that the ship was unable to break free, although it was designed for such a journey in heavy ice. In September 1919, the crew managed to free the ship loose from the ice, but it froze again after eleven days. The incredible path to the North Pole, which took an additional 6 years was fraught with one disaster after another that would easily compete with any harrowing movie scene ... Amundsen could no longer participate in the work outdoors, such as sleigh rides and hunting, because he had suffered numerous injuries. He had a broken arm and had been attacked by polar bears. Hanssen and Wisting, along with two other men, embarked on an expedition by dog sled to Nome Alaska, more than 1,000 kilometres away. But they found that the ice was not frozen solid in the Bering Strait, and it could not be crossed. They sent a telegram to signal their location. After two additional winters frozen in the ice, without having achieved the goal of drifting over the North Pole, Amundsen decided to go to Nome, Alaska to repair the ship and buy provisions. Several of the crew ashore there, including Hanssen, did not return on time to the ship. Amundsen considered Hanssen to be in breach of contract, and dismissed him from the crew. During the third winter, Maud was frozen in the western Bering Strait. She finally became free and the expedition sailed south, reaching Seattle Washington, in the US Pacific Northwest in 1921 for repairs. By June 1922, Amundsen returned to Maud, which had been sailed to Nome. He decided to shift from the planned naval expedition to aerial ones, and arranged to charter a plane. He divided the expedition team in two: one part was to survive the winter and prepare for an attempt to fly over the pole. This part was led by Amundsen. The second team on Maud, under the command of Wisting, was to resume the original plan to drift over the North Pole in the ice. The ship drifted in the ice for three years east of the New Siberian Islands, never reaching the North Pole and in a moment of complete irony was finally seized by Amundsen's creditors as collateral for his mounting debt. The attempt to fly over the Pole failed, too. Amundsen and Oskar Omdal, of the Royal Norwegian Navy, tried to fly from Wainwright, Alaska to Spitsbergen across the North Pole. When their aircraft was damaged, they abandoned the journey. To raise additional funds, Amundsen traveled around the United States in 1924 on a lecture tour. But by 1925, Amundsen was ready to resume operations, and took two Dornier Do J flying boats, the N-24 and N-25, to 87‘ 44_„_ north. It was the northernmost latitude reached by plane up to that time. The aircraft landed a few miles apart without radio contact, yet the crews managed to reunite. The N-24 was damaged. Amundsen and his crew worked for more than three weeks to clean up an airstrip to take off from ice. They shoveled 600 tons of ice while consuming only one pound (400 g) of daily food rations. In the end, six crew members were packed into the N-25. In a remarkable feat, Riiser-Larsen took off, and they barely became airborne over the cracking ice. They returned triumphant when everyone thought they had been lost forever. In 1926, Amundsen and 15 other men and the Italian air crew finally made the first crossing of the Arctic in the airship Norge; the crew of the Norge would be the first explorers verified to have reached the North Pole. And as ones fate can never be assessed in advance, and after a life which encountered most every possible travesty, Amundsen, while on a flight rescue mission in the Artic disappeared with five crew on 18 June 1928. To this day, neither his plane nor were the bodies ever found. A wonderful scarce letter of a man who had just achieved what was believed to be the impossible Arctica: 1903 Northwest passage, 1918 Northeast passage and 1926 North Pole flight

The letter translated in full is shown below both in Norweign and English:

NORWEGIAN TEXT:

13.VII. 27.

Hr. Aage B. Nilsen

JÍ_rtli tak for Deres store

Venlihet ve Íâ senne mei disse

Mye interessange frimÍ_rker

Jei er siker pÍâ min nev͙

vil bli strÍâlende gla

Me venli hilsen

Deres

Roald Amundsen

ENGLISH TRANSLATION:

TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS "IMPEHO TOKYO"

The Imperial Hotel

Of Tokyo

07.13/1927

Mr. Aage B. Nilsen

Thank you cordially for your great

kindness in sending me these

very interesting stamps

I am certain that my nephew

will beam with joy

With kind regards

Yours truly

Roald Amundsen

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