Discovery: The Story of the Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition with Illustrations and Maps [Signed on Signature Cut]

New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1935. Beautifully signed in black fountain pen by Admiral Byrd on signature cut at half-title page: "R. E. Byrd". Charming notation above signature on same clipping: "He talked to the Dexter Boys who asked for his autograph.-" Stated First Edition at copyright page. 1935 at title page and copyright. Large 6 1/2" x 9 1/2" design. Icy blue full cloth boards, gilt embossed cover and spine titles, light shelf wear, rub. Cover features gilt border w/silhouette of plane from above. Deckled pages near fine, no writing. Attractive toning. Frontispiece portrait plate of Admiral Byrd. Pictorial endpapers of the operations map of the second Byrd Antarctica Expedition including Little America, Ross Ice Shelf, Marie Byrd Land, and the Rockefeller Plateau. Small antiquarian bookstore label printed with purple text and decorative border at front endpaper: "From the Bookshop for Boys & Girls, Women's Industrial & Educational Union, 270 Boylston Street, Boston". Bind good, square; hinges intact. Dust wrapper, moderate shelf wear, rub, toning; unclipped 3.75, protected in new clear sleeve. Classic wrap-around jacket design of plane flying over the antarctic plateau at night w/moon in b.g. Illustrated with over fifty amazing photos, images and maps, etc. Near fine first edition in near very good wrapper. From the moment Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr. first left Anarctica, he knew he would return. Both the scope of the strange land and the uncharted scientific promise it held were too much to leave behind forever. Launched during the Great Depression amid great public skepticism, and with funding at its toughest to secure, this second Antarctic journey proved as daring, eventful, and inspiring as any Byrd embarked upon. Admiral Byrd’s classic explorations by land, air, and sea transport us to the farthest reaches of the earth. As companions on Byrd’s journeys, readers experience the polar landscape through Byrd’s own struggles, doubts, revelations, and triumphs and share the excitement of these timeless adventures. Byrd proves to be an honest, sensitive, eloquent writer, humbled by the vast dangerous world of the Antarctic. The challenges of leading men, the difficulties of planning and preparation atop the great frozen mountains and ice pack are sympathetically described. Byrd was an American naval officer who specialized in feats of exploration. He was a recipient of the Medal of Honor, the highest honor for valor given by the United States, and was a pioneering American aviator, polar explorer, and organizer of polar logistics. Aircraft flights in which he served as a navigator and expedition leader crossed the Atlantic Ocean, a segment of the Arctic Ocean, and a segment of the Antarctic Plateau. Byrd's expeditions were the first to reach both the North and South Pole by air. Manufactured in the United States of America at the Van Rees Press. 405 pages. Insured post.. Signed by Author. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾" Tall.