wilsondm-3 (1963–)

3 stars/Non-Fiction; Photography

I enjoyed this little walk back into history to read about Captain Scott and view some of his images of his expedition to Antartica in the early 1900's. Unfortunately, he underestimated the conditions of the environment he was working in and perished as a result of it.

This book gives you a glimpse of what Captain Scott and his team endured throughout their journey to capture the images. It is apparent through the information presented that they were all very brave to have attempted such a trip.… (more)

With a few essential pages describing history from the life of Edward Wilson, two of his nephews have collected a representative sample of sketches and watercolors and reproduced them for posterity. Wilson made journeys to Antarctica in the early 1900's to view and record nature and wildlife during a time when photography was just coming into use. He remains, then, perhaps one of the last true artists to have recorded the south pole areas in detail. Wilson died during a return from the south pole with the ill-fated Scott Expedition.

The book is a coffee-table sized volume, with very heavy paper and excellent reproductions of exquisite watercolor paintings. More an art book than anything else, it seeks to keep alive the legacy of Edward Wilson and preserve the delicate and fragile watercolors that show the subtle colors and shading of light in a land of the midnight sun. While this is a niche genre, it is a must for anyone who is a student of the polar regions and the age of exploration at the turn of the century.

I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.… (more)