Some text is common to both variants; other text only appears in Variant B. To better understand this refer to this graphic representation.
Two theories have been advanced to explain this:
The second theory has been advanced by Marty Greene of Seattle who, until recently, was an Aurora owner.1
This writer—Robert Stephenson—is responsible for the first. It goes back to 1978 when I purchased my copy from Francis Edwards Ltd of London. The book was sent on approval and before accepting it, I took it to Houghton Library to collate it with Harvard's copy. With the two Aurora's side by side, I slowly turned the leaves. In time the illustration in question appeared in the Harvard copy but not in the copy I was about to purchase. Once I had recovered my composure I thought I had figured it out. The book was produced as a collection of single leaves printed on both recto and verso, punched in the margin and laced together with a cord. The illustration (with text on the recto) either became separated from its neighbors in some way or was removed, perhaps by someone who liked the illustration and found it "suitable for framing."However, upon closer inspection, I realized that there was no break in the text—which would be the case as there was text on the other side of the leaf—but rather the text read right through. Then I discovered in the copy I was buying that it had text that the Harvard copy didn't have.
I then decided what might have happened is that in the crowded confusion of the Cape Royds Hut, during the printing process, the illustration, a wood cut or engraving, I'm not sure which, became damaged and unusable. Rather than do it over, it was decided to reset both sides of the leaf as text and proceed from there.
I settled by bill with Francis Edwards and then started looking at other copies of the Aurora, always checking to see whether the illustration was there or the added text. Forty years later I'm still checking.
2
Marty's views are well described in a piece he did for Book Talk: Essays on Books, Booksellers, Collecting, and Special Collections, edited by Robert H. Jackson and Caroi Zeman Rothkopf (New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2006), entitled "Aurora Australis (1908), Edited By Ernest H. Shackleton: A New Description of the First State of the First Book Published on the Antarctic Continent."Marty's thesis is, in a nutshell, that the text variant/version came first and the illustrated variant/version came second. He believes that some of the text that appears in Variant B might have been poorly received by wealthy persons in England and that future fundraising might be adversely affected. Shackleton and the printers therefore decided that the simplest solution would be to reset the leaft by changing the text and inserting an illustration.
Although the change was made several copies of the all-text Variant B were still issued (why is a mystery).
There are far more copies with the illustration than without it but the saleroom prices don't seem to have been affected one way or the other.
The table below summarizes the current situation:
• 59 copies are known to have the illustration (Variant A)
• 11 copies are known to not have the illustration, i.e. all text (Variant B), and…
• 27 copies may have one or the other but no information is available.
• 1 copy has neither the illustration nor the text.
A | AURORA AUSTRALIS -Variant A, with the illustration | ||
Copy No | Owner / Name | ||
1 | 1 | John Carter Brown Library. Swan copy. | |
2 | 2 | Columbia University. Bassett Jones copy. | |
3 | 3 | Dartmouth College. Stefansson copy. | |
4 | 4 | Harvard University. Frost copy. | |
5 | 5 | Huntington Library. Edith Shackleton copy. | |
6 | 6 | Library of Congress | |
7 | 7 | Morgan Library | |
8 | 8 | New York Public Library. Spencer copy. | |
9 | 10 | University of Chicago | |
10 | 11 | Christ's College, Cambridge. Priestley copy. | |
11 | 12/280 | Dulwich College. Kipling copy. | |
12 | 13 | Dundee Heritage Trust. Joel copy. | |
13 | 14 | National Library of Scotland | |
14 | 15/282 | National Maritime Museum. Dawson-Lambton copy. | |
15 | 16 | National Maritime Museum. Elspeth Invernairn copy. | |
16 | 18 | Scott Polar Research Institute. Emily Shackleton copy. Mill copy. | |
17 | 19 | Bodleian Library. Ehrman copy. | |
18 | 20 | Australian Antarctic Division. Davis copy. | |
19 | 21 | National Library of Australia. Kivell copy. | |
20 | 22 | State Library of N.S.W. Dixson Library | |
21 | 23 | State Library of N.S.W. Mitchell Library | |
22 | 28 | University of New England. Griffith Taylor copy. David copy. | |
23 | 29/289 | Canterbury Museum. Nuttall copy. | |
24 | 31 | Turnbull Library. Turnbull copy. | |
25 | 32/250 | British Library. Streeter copy. | |
26 | 33 | National Library of Australia. White copy. | |
27 | 34 | Newberry Library. Marshall copy. Kendall copy. Fitzgerald copy. | |
28 | 35 | Eton College. Eckstein copy. | |
29 | 36 | Scott Polar Research Institute. Priestley copy. | |
30 | 37 | South Australian Museum. Mawson copy. | |
31 | 39/317 | Scott Polar Research Institute. Dunlop giant tick copy. | |
32 | 40/273 | Turnbull Library. Truscott copy. | |
33 | 41/268/303/312 | Kislak Foundation. Maylin copy. Bernacchi copy. | |
34 | 42 | Oates Collection | |
35 | 43/206 | Royal Geographical Society | |
36 | 100/306 | Seattle copy. Lascaux copy. | |
37 | 101 | Campbell copy. | |
38 | 102/259/288 | Crawford copy. Starr copy. Miss Wild copy. Holmes copy. | |
39 | 105/314 | Santa Monica copy. Sheaf copy. Baume copy. | |
40 | 106 | Lord Shackleton copy. | |
41 | 108/290 | Taaffe copy. Belle Donaldson copy. Skellerup copy. | |
42 | 109/261/286/311 | Taurus copy. Dropmore copy. | |
43 | 110/309 | Ernest Joyce copy. Krementz copy. | |
44 | 112/315 | Brooke-Hitching copy. | |
45 | 113 | Private Collection Devon | |
46 | 115 | West Coast USA copy.Hill copy. Manney copy. | |
47 | 116/165? | Antipodean Books | |
48 | 122/267/302/319 | Fitzsimmons copy. Porter copy. West Virginia copy. | |
49 | 123 | Private Collection New Zealand. White copy. Reaney copy. | |
50 | 124/201 | Brocklehurst copy. | |
51 | 126/274 | Simper copy. Lysaght copy | |
52 | 127 | Cotton copy. Priestley copy. | |
53 | 128 | Chrisant copy. Bogoievski copy. | |
54 | 129/254/264 | Stewart copy #1. Zust copy. Renard copy. Since sold. | |
55 | 130 | Aeneas Mackintosh copy. Dowler copy. | |
56 | 134/266 | Stancomb-Wills copy. | |
57 | 135/269 | Lady Grey copy. | |
58 | 136/270 | Cooper copy. Wild copy. Holmes copy. Keynes copy. | |
59 | 137/316 | Sothebys 2016 | |
B | AURORA AUSTRALIS -Variant B, without the illustration, all text. | ||
Copy No | Owner/Name | ||
1 | 9/34/169 | UCLA. Goodwin copy. | |
2 | 17 | Royal Collections Windsor Castle | |
3 | 24 | State Library of Tasmania. Davis copy. | |
4 | 25 | Museum Victoria. Eager copy. Ramsay copy. | |
5 | 26 | State Library of South Australia. Symon copy. | |
6 | 27 | University of Adelaide. Mawson copy. | |
7 | 30 | Turnbull Library. Kinsey copy. | |
8 | 103/133/255 | Renard 1994. Greene copy. Now Bay Area collector. | |
9 | 104/271/308 | Levinson copy. Buckley copy. | |
10 | 107/251 | F. Edwards 1978. Stephenson copy. | |
11 | 132 | Maggs copy. Since sold. | |
C | AURORA AUSTRALIS -Unknown which variant | ||
Copy No | Owner/Name | ||
1 | 44 | State Library of Victoria. Mackeller copy. | |
2 | 45 | Sissinghurst Castle Garden. Carnock copy. | |
3 | 111 | Harrison/Metz copy. | |
4 | 114 | Norfolk, UK copy. Scott-Fawcett copy. | |
5 | 117/163 | Scotland copy. | |
6 | 119 | Private Collection Perth Australia Copy 1 | |
7 | 120 | Private Collection Perth Australia Copy 2 | |
8 | 121 | Private Collection New Mexico | |
9 | 125 | Private Collection San Rafael Califoprnia | |
10 | 131 | Murray copy. | |
11 | 150 | Argentina Private Collection #1 | |
12 | 151 | Australia Private Collection #1 NSW | |
13 | 152 | Australia Private Collection #2 NSW | |
14 | 153 | Australia Private Collection #3 NSW | |
15 | 154 | Australia Private Collection #4 Victoria | |
16 | 155 | Australia Private Collection #5 Victoria | |
17 | 156 | France Private Collection #1 | |
18 | 157 | New Zealand Private Collection #1 Near Christchurch | |
19 | 158 | New Zealand Private Collection #2 Near Lower Hutt | |
20 | 159 | New Zealand Private Collection #3 Near Wellington | |
21 | 160 | UK Private Collection #1 Oxford | |
22 | 161 | UK Private Collection #2 London | |
23 | 162 | UK Private Collection #3 Sutton Coldfield | |
24 | 163 | UK Private Collection #4 Scotland | |
25 | 164 | UK Private Collection #5 Middlesex | |
26 | 166 | UK Private Collection #6 Herefordshire | |
27 | 168 | UK Private Collection #8 London | |
D | AURORA AUSTRALIS -Not relevant | ||
Copy No | Owner/Name | ||
1 | 38 | Scott Polar Research Library - Dunlop Dummy (no text or illustration) | |