Ascent of the Matterhorn: & the Forgotten Photographs

＂Unapproachable in Alpine literature.＂

Few thought of travelling to the Alps until John Ruskin extolled the rugged beauty of the Matterhorn in 1844. However, it was 25-year-old Edward Whymper who inadvertently re-established its haunted aura upon making its first ascent in 1865. His Alpine adventure spurred the birth of mountaineering, while his memoir is still as fresh as when he wrote it as a love letter to the unique world and fierceness of nature he discovered while ascending thirteen Alpine peaks for the first time. Armed with a pick-axe, he climbed in tweeds and hobnailed leather shoes, alone or with other Brits and local hunters and craftsmen, who carried ropes, stores, tents, and hacked steps in the ice. Yet, today, the Matterhorn is still treacherous and has recorded over 500 more deaths since four of Whymper’s party lost their lives-one of whom has yet to be found.

Forgotten photographs-as a young engraver, Whymper enthusiastically embraced the rapidly advancing art of photography. In 1874, he was the first to take a portable camera and plates up the Matterhorn to turn photographs into drawings for a new edition of his book, and, in 1883, to include as lantern slides with talks (rousing in teenage Winston Churchill, for one, a lifelong passion for the Alps). In this edition, 56 of them accompany his original engravings and Alpine advice to illustrate his dramatic story, and many appear in print for the first time.

Edward Whymper was a geographer and artist, and the first Victorian explorer to gain world fame as an explorer. He lectured around the world with a set of slides which were only recently rediscovered.