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• Shipping next business day after
payment: FedEx Ground, USPS Priority Mail, or Media Mail as appropriate
for lowest cost • USA ONLY because I cannot do customs, and
neither Priority Mail nor FedEx Ground deliver outside the USA
Bradley Robinson autographed 1967 first paperback edition of the Henson biography
Dark Companion
Due to interest in black studies after the civil rights era, Dark
Companion was republished. It was soon copy-catted with numerous
derivative works. In fact, Robinson sued one author and won a substantial
settlement. This paperback was the first reprint. Later Robinson himself
used the Fawcett edition to have additional ones printed at his expense to
keep up with the demand over many years. After his death his son issued a
new edition which is sold on a Henson website. In fact, the family has kept
this book in print for over 50 years.
Peary entered and sat down on my bunk.
We talked of the trip, of ice conditions on the Polar Sea, of low
temperatures, of equipment, of the number of dogs, of the amount of
food, and then of the various supporting parties which had already left
the ship. He spoke of Bartlett, of Ross Marvin, of George Borup, of John
Goodsell, of the part each one was to play in this—“my last attempt.”
"When each man has fed me and my men up to a certain point, within
striking distance of the Pole, their work is done. They shall be no
longer needed.” Peary sat there thinking for a moment and then added,
“But Henson is not to return. I can't get along without him.” I think
that here is the greatest compliment that Peary has ever paid to any
man. After twenty and more years of companionship, could he have said
anything more in praise of the man who had trudged with him northward
over the Greenland ice cap! Who had stood with him at the most northern
point of land in the world, who had held the American flag at the
world's record of 87 degrees 6 minutes; who had suffered with him on the
Polar Sea on that frightful march to land in 1906, when dogs were used
for food and sledges burned for fuel. Peary knew Matt Henson's real
worth.
To Matt, now an Arctic expert, we went for instruction. He showed
us this, he showed us that, to make the hardship of the trail a bit
easier. A carpenter, he built the sledges; a mechanic, he made the
alcohol stoves; an expert dog driver, he taught us to handle our dogs.
Highly respected by the Eskimos, he was easily the most popular man on
board ship.
Henson, strong physically, and above all fully experienced, was of more
real value to our Commander than Bartlett, Marvin, Borup, Goodsell and
myself all put together, Matthew Henson went to the Pole with Peary
because he was a better man than any of us. Commander Donald B. MacMillan
About The Author Bradley
Robinson is a young author of alert talent who has a fine
ability to interpret personalities important in our country's
history in the light of today's values.
Although Mr. Robinson had long been familiar with stories of Matthew
Henson's heroic exploits in the Arctic, the two had never met prior
to the day of the funeral of the beloved Captain Bob Bartlett in
April of 1946. From then until the finished manuscript was turned
over to the publisher, Bradley Robinson and Matthew Henson worked in
close collaboration writing this unique story of the greatest
undertaking in the history of American exploration.
from a 1947 review
Bradley Robinson, 1945. Author not included in auction.
Note: Until
now this book remained in the Robinson family. It has never before been put
on the market.
"The discovery of the North Pole is one of
the noblest stories in the history of exploration. It is a story of the
battle of two invincible Americans against the terrible elements of the
Arctic; a battle which lasted eighteen years and left one of the
Americans, a steel-willed man of grit, a cripple for life. It is a human
story filled with tragic suffering, pathos and humiliation. And it is
noble, because these two Americans, who made the last great discovery in
the Northern Hemisphere, were a white man and a Negro." Bradley Robinson, 1947
Robinson's
biography of Henson propelled Matt to national attention in a liberal
post WW2 America. This intimate work became the watershed for all
derivative books about Henson that would later abound after the civil
rights era.
• USA ONLY • PayPal only to confirmed addresses. • Professional packing •
Shipping next business day after payment: FedEx Ground, USPS Priority
Mail, or Media Mail as appropriate for lowest cost • Combined shipping
whenever possible at least cost—I always refund excess shipping back to
your PayPal account. • USA ONLY because I cannot do customs, and neither
Priority Mail nor FedEx Ground deliver outside the USA
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