(Arctic Expeditions) Brabant, Else van (pseudonym of E. J. de Moulin van Harlingen). Avonturen van Nansen aan de Noordpool [Adventures of Nansen at the North Pole]. Amsterdam: J. Vlieger, circa 1896.
Quarto. [12] pp. including inside wrappers. Illustrated throughout with six pages of chromolithographs and six pages of monochrome lithographs. Publisher's original pictorial glazed card wrappers, featuring a multi-color lithographed portrait of the Norwegian Arctic explorer Fridtjof Nansen to the upper wrapper, and an action scene of Nansen traversing ice on skis towed by a sled dog with his exploration vessel, the Fram, icebound in the distance, to the lower wrapper.
The physical condition of the volume is VERY GOOD. The highly vulnerable glazed card wrappers remain bright and structurally sound, with minor routine rubbing and localized wear along the spine fold, including a clean split to the lower 2-1/4" of the spine junction that does not compromise the text block security. Internally, the heavy paper stock is remarkably well-preserved; defects are minor and strictly restricted to a few isolated finger smudges and two or three minute spots of foxing on the margins.
Polar Exploration Iconography and Late-Nineteenth-Century Juvenile Lithography
This ephemeral Dutch picture book serves as an immediate contemporary response to Fridtjof Nansen’s historic Fram expedition (1893–1896). Written under the pseudonym Else van Brabant by E. J. de Moulin van Harlingen, the work translates the tactical and geographic realities of Arctic exploration into a visual narrative for European youth. The technical execution relies on high-quality chromolithography balanced by fine-line monochrome lithographs, capturing the specialized equipment, clothing, and canine transport networks that defined Nansen's methodology.
In terms of content, the narrative captures the cultural phenomenon surrounding Nansen's attempt to reach the geographical North Pole by intentionally permitting the Fram to freeze into the moving Arctic pack ice. While the expedition fell short of the pole itself, Nansen's radically innovative polar travel techniques—including custom-designed sledges, specialized clothing layers, and ski-dog integration—revolutionized late-Victorian exploration and established the tactical blueprint for subsequent successful rushes to both the Arctic and Antarctic poles.
Bibliographic Scarcity and Institutional Census
Nineteenth-century children's toy books issued in soft glazed wrappers suffered from an notoriously high mortality rate, particularly when treating heroic or highly handled adventure themes. Because these fragile paper-covered booklets were routinely read to destruction in nurseries, clean examples containing the full compliment of uncompromised lithographed plates are exceptionally difficult to recover.
A current global sweep of the OCLC/WorldCat database confirms the immense scarcity of this J. Vlieger imprint. The database records only one solitary copy in permanent public or institutional holdings worldwide, located at the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (National Library of the Netherlands).
AN EXCEEDINGLY RARE, TRULY RECOVERY-LEVEL PIECE OF POLAR JUVENILIA, SIGNIFICANT FOR SPECIALIZED ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS FOCUSING ON NANSEN ICONOGRAPHY, LATE-VICTORIAN CHROMOLITHOGRAPHY, AND THE EUROPEAN POPULARIZATION OF THE ARCTIC HEROIC AGE.
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