# Is "Farthest North: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship Fram 1893-96" by Fridtjof Nansen a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of Farthest North: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship Fram 1893-96 by Fridtjof Nansen (Archibald Constable and Company, 1897) is identified by: The first edition in English collates in two volumes (xiii, 510; xiii, 671 pages), bound in blue-green cloth stamped and lettered in gilt with pictorial decoration on the covers and spines, including a gilt block of the Fram on volume one's front cover and a figure titled 'Northward Through the Drift-Snows' on volume two. Nansen wrote the account in Norwegian; the Norwegian-language original (Fram over Polhavet, Kristiania: H.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- The first edition in English collates in two volumes (xiii, 510; xiii, 671 pages), bound in blue-green cloth stamped and lettered in gilt with pictorial decoration on the covers and spines, including a gilt block of the Fram on volume one's front cover and a figure titled 'Northward Through the Drift-Snows' on volume two
- It is illustrated with more than 120 illustrations from sketches and photographs, including sixteen color plates after Nansen's own sketches, an etched portrait frontispiece, and four color folding maps, and it includes an appendix by Otto Sverdrup, captain of the Fram
- Top and fore edges are untrimmed, consistent with the original issue
- A separate first American edition, without the Constable pictorial cloth, was issued the same year in New York by Harper & Brothers
- Publisher imprint reads Archibald Constable and Company
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Fridtjof Nansen |
| Publisher | Archibald Constable and Company |
| Year | 1897 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | The first edition in English collates in two volumes (xiii, 510; xiii, 671 pages), bound in blue-green cloth stamped and lettered in gilt… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
The first edition in English collates in two volumes (xiii, 510; xiii, 671 pages), bound in blue-green cloth stamped and lettered in gilt with pictorial decoration on the covers and spines, including a gilt block of the Fram on volume one's front cover and a figure titled 'Northward Through the Drift-Snows' on volume two. It is illustrated with more than 120 illustrations from sketches and photographs, including sixteen color plates after Nansen's own sketches, an etched portrait frontispiece, and four color folding maps, and it includes an appendix by Otto Sverdrup, captain of the Fram. Top and fore edges are untrimmed, consistent with the original issue. A separate first American edition, without the Constable pictorial cloth, was issued the same year in New York by Harper & Brothers.

## Is this the true first?
Nansen wrote the account in Norwegian; the Norwegian-language original (Fram over Polhavet, Kristiania: H. Aschehoug & Co., 1897) has bibliographic priority over any English text. This entry describes the collectible first edition in English, issued by Archibald Constable in 1897.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *Farthest North: Being the Record of a Voyage of Exploration of the Ship Fram 1893-96* by Fridtjof Nansen a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/farthest-north-being-the-record-of-a-voyage-of-exploration-o
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.