THE golden age of Polar exploration involves stirring stories of bravery and heroic figures – and also great interest normally at auctions.
Ernest Shackleton is one of the most familiar names but it tends to be his astonishing exploits in the early 20th century that grab the attention.
However, coming up in the Nigel Ward February 18 sale is a slightly earlier Shackleton-related item. It is what the saleroom calls “an uncommonly neatly written” six-page letter by him dated May 7, 1893, from Shackleton’s first ship, Hoghton Tower, moored in Newcastle Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.