MOORE (Adolphus Warburton). The Alps in 1864: a private journal. Published by the author, 1867. Large in-8°, full publisher's green cloth binding, cold decoration on boards, smooth spine decorated with gilt title. First edition, private print run of 100 copies only for friends of the author. Illustrated with ten maps. A fundamental work of the golden age of mountaineering. Accounts of the ascents of one of the most famous English mountaineers of the Victorian era. See in particular the account of the first ascent of the Brenva spur on Mont Blanc, an authentic feat for the time, included as an appendix in the original edition: The first major difficulty of this climb is "the narrowest and most formidable ice ridge I have ever encountered... I suddenly shuddered to see my companions abandon the standing position... to straddle the ridge... [which] looked like a knife edge". Further up, "the passage to the summit was blocked by a huge block of ice that completely closed off the path. Our position was absolutely critical. The slope we were on ended in a large mass of serac hanging over our heads, which at any moment could have collapsed on top of us. In the end, Melchior Anderegg found the weak point in the serac bar and the team was able to complete the ascent. And Moore concludes: "The route via the Brenva glacier to Mont-Blanc has the merit of being more direct, but its practical usefulness does not surpass that of the Mont-Blanc du Tacul. However, it must be admitted that it is incomparably more beautiful and that it arouses the imagination. A fine copy. A. W. Moore (England 1841- Monte Carlo 1887) served for many years in senior positions in the India Office, and at the end of his life was private secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Lord Churchill. Above all, Moore was one of the greatest mountaineers of the Golden Age; he was with Whymper on the first ascent of the Barre des Ecrins in 1864, he made the first ascent of Piz Roseg and the Obergabelhorn (1865), and he accompanied Freshfield to the Caucasus in 1868 (first ascents of Kasbek and the E. summit of Elbrus). But his most outstanding achievement was undoubtedly the first ascent of Mont-Blanc via the Brenva spur in 1865, with H. Walker and G.S. Mathews, guided by Jakob and Melchior Anderegg, a glacier ascent of a technical level that was unrivalled at the time. Perret, 3086 - Neate M137 - A look at the Alps 85