From the Ocean to the Sky

London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1979 Illustrated with many color and b&w illustrations, maps, and drawings. First UK edition, first printing. Signed by Edmund Hillary in black ink on the title page. Publisher's gray cloth-covered boards, with spine lettered in gilt, and map endpapers; in the original pictorial dust jacket designed by Jefferson Godwin, with photographs by Graeme Dingle, lettered in orange, blue, and black. Fine book; very good unclipped dust jacket, with orange title on spine almost completely faded, creases to spine and jacket flaps, some light soiling to extremities, and a small closed tear to bottom edge of front panel with clear-tape reinforcement to verso. Overall, a bright and sturdy copy, signed by the legendary climber. In From the Ocean to the Sky, Edmund Hillary recounts his two-part adventure along the Ganges River in 1977, which consisted of jet boating 1,500 miles along the Ganges from the Bay of Bengal to the Himalayas, and then climbing a Himalayan mountain. He undertook the journey at the age of 58, as a way of processing the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter in a plane crash in 1975. Edmund Hillary (1919-2008) was a New Zealander who successfully summited Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay as part of the 1953 British Mount Everest expedition. Later in life, Hillary was known for his humanitarian efforts to aid the people of the Everest region of Nepal through the Himalayan Trust, which he founded. He received many awards and honors including the Order of the Garter in 1995.. Signed by Author. First UK Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Dust Jacket Included.