Day: December 27, 2013

Front facade of Houghton Library

All seal hunting and no letterpress printing makes Jack a dull boy

In 1908, Sir Ernest Shackleton and his British Polar Expedition made publication history: they created the first book ever produced on the continent of Antarctica. Produced “at the Sign of the Penguins” while the team overwintered at Cape Royds before attempting the South Pole, Aurora Australis consists of about one hundred and twenty unnumbered loose…