Ritscher, Alfred: Deutsche Antarktische Expedition 1938/39. Text (1 of 2) - and ill. part in 2 Vol. Leipzig: Koehler & Amelang 1942. 24,2 x 17,1 cm. Contains 3 plates and 3 folded maps/plans in the text volume, plus 1 folded cross-section (M.S. ‘Schwabenland’), 4 colour maps loose in the plate volume, as well as illustrations, including 3D images, plus 3D glasses in the original insert. pp. (III)–(XV), 1 blank page, 304 pp.; IV pp., 29 leaves, 3 unnumbered pp. (index). Original half-linen binding, covers and spine with red-stamped title/spine titles.

(Covers slightly worn. Bindings loose in all copies. Binding torn at the front of the text block. 3D glasses with small holes.)

The second volume was published in 1958 (not available here). – The Schwabenland Antarctic Expedition was an attempt by the National Socialists to lay claim to large parts of Antarctica for the Reich, in order to expand the areas in which the German whaling fleet could operate and thus reduce dependence on imports. The expedition flew over previously unmapped parts of the Antarctic continent and carried out zoological and oceanographic observations off the coast, but no member of the expedition actually set foot on the continent. The expedition was planned and carried out in secret and was virtually unknown at the time until the first volume of this work was published.