Item #14665 Mountaineering in the Land of the Midnight Sun. Mrs. Aubrey Le Blond, Elizabeth Alice Frances.

Mountaineering in the Land of the Midnight Sun

London: Fisher Unwin, 1908.

First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. xii, 304 pp, with a map and 64 plates. Original pictorial cloth; top edge gilt. Light rubbing to extremities, a few small stains on spine, internally clean and sound. Mrs. Le Blond was a wealthy society woman who originally went to Switzerland for health reasons. There she discovered a love for mountaineering, climbing extensively in the Alps and later Norway. She was determined to prove that good breeding and a sense of adventure were not mutually exclusive. "Her burgeoning accomplishments also included learning to skate (she was the first woman to pass the coveted Men's Skating Test), tobogganing (she helped plan and construct the fabulous Cresta Run)...and snow photography (producing a textbook on technique in 1895)" (Robinson, pp 20-21). She was among the first people to make bicycle tours through the Alps, and she raced early motor cars in hill-climbing competitions. In 1907, she helped found and was elected first president of the Ladies Alpine Club. One of the scarcer of her many books, this one describes her climbs in Norway in 1898, including several first ascents, and also includes a chapter on the social roles and status of Norwegian women.

Item #14665

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