[Complete set of postcards, either with a photo illustration or artist impression of episodes from the Cook and Peary accounts of their expeditions to the North Pole].

COMPLETE SET OF 50 POSTCARDS

50 postcards, printed in greyscale, combining photographic and hand drawn illustrations, 90 by 140mm. All but one unused, discreet inventory number written on the verso of each card in ink, a very good set. Chicago,

An extensive set of postcards, each with a narrative caption on the verso, produced at the height of the Cook vs. Peary North Pole controversy. The public dispute over which explorer was first to reach the pole caused a media sensation, and many producers of popular print cashed in on the story with associated ephemera. The images begin with photographs, but as the known narrative of the two expedition veer out of the reach of photography and into Cook and Peary's own competing versions of events, this is replaced with cheerful pen and ink illustrations. 

 

In a rare case of even-handedness, the publisher of this set has not chosen a side in the debate. Rather, the narrative ends with an imagined punch-up between Cook and Peary, with the anthropomorphised female 'North Pole' coyly looking down on them. The final card takes a patriotic but ambivalent stance - the individual raising the flag is unknown, but what matters is that it's the American flag. 

 

OCLC records one set only, at the National Library of Scotland. 

Stock Code: 248074