SIGNED BY SIR EDMUND HILLARY AND EXPEDITION MEMBERS GEORGE LOWE AND CHARLES EVANS, WITH A COMMEMORATIVE POSTCARD SIGNED BY TENZING NORGAY AND JOHN HUNT LAID IN

(HILLARY, Edmund) HUNT, John. The Conquest of Everest. With a Chapter on the Final Assault by Sir Edmund Hillary. New York: E. P. Dutton and Company, 1954. Octavo, original cloth, original dust jacket. $4900.

First American edition of the official account of the first summit of Mount Everest, signed on the front free endpaper by Edmund Hillary and expedition members George Lowe and Charles Evans, and with a commemorative postcard signed by Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay and author John Hunt laid in. With eight color photographic plates, 48 half-tone plates and a number of in-text illustrations after pen-and-ink sketches.

The 1953 British Expedition to Mount Everest was the eighth in 30 years to attempt Everest. On May 29th, 1953 Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa guide Tenzing Norgay at last stood at the summit; it was a culminating moment in mountaineering history, and one of the great achievements of human stamina and will. This account was written in one month by Sir John Hunt, the leader of the expedition, in order to satisfy the immediate demand around the world for the story of the British team's success. Chapter 16 is Sir Edmund Hillary's stirring account of the final part of the climb, and the appendices are by members of the expedition. "A definitive account worth reading" (Krawczyk 465). Neate 393.

Book fine, dust jacket with only very shallow wear to corners, bright and clean. A near-fine signed copy.