New Hebrides Papers. Scientific Results of the Oxford University Expedition to the New Hebrides 1933 - 34

Oxford: Oxford University Exploration Club by the Oxford Univ. Press, 1951. First Edition. Original publisher's cloth.. Very good; some rubbing to the cloth; pencil notes on the rear pastedown and endpapers as well as one offprint.. Royal 8vo. The text is made-up of 16 original offprints from various journals retaining their original format and pagination. The OUP printed the title, preface, and then bound up the offprints as the "text". The book bears the OUP press mark of the period on the spine and is bound in a green colored coarse weave linen cloth

The club was founded in 1927 and mounted international expeditions on several occasions before WWII. The purpose of this expedition was twofold: 1) to find and climb the highest mountain in the New Hebrides; 2) to study the tropical rain forest where it was always wet. Mt. Tabwemasana at the interior of Espiritu Santo was highest peak in the islands. Members climbed to the top and left markers that were later located and recorded by American occupational forces during WWII. One of the members, T H Harrisson, remained behind to explore the little known island of Malekula, south of Espiritu Santo, for the Colonial Office. The report of his one man reconnaissance is included in this volume. Practical points of the expedition's progress and the conditions encountered on the island group were published in it's annual report for 1935. The expedition made no collections during this outing. Given the manner in which the book is made-up it is doubtful if more than 100 copies were produced.