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a) Edmund Hillary, High Adventure, London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1955

226 including 1 colour frontispiece and 31 black and white photographic plates, 14 sketches by George Djurkovic in text and 7 maps by A Spark; original cloth bound covered with dust jacket
21 x 15 x 2.5 cm

Signed by Hillary in blue ink to colour frontispiece from photograph depicting him at the summit of Mount Everest, 29 May 1953, and signed by fellow mountaineer and member of the successful 1953 British Mount Everest expedition George Lowe (1924-2013) on front free end paper. Hillary's first book and his account of his introduction to climbing and the 1953 climb to the summit of Mount Everest.Lowe was Hillary's rope-mate on many climbs (before & after Everest) and he was the 1953 Everest team member who led the carry to the highest camp above the South Col in support of the summit climb. Other than the author, George Lowe has a bigger role in this book than any other climber. Hillary dedicated this book to George Lowe (and 3 other climbers). Signed First Edition copies by key members of the expedition are extremely scarce.

In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay stared into its dark eye and did not waver. On May 29, they pushed spent bodies and aching lungs past the achievable to pursue the impossible. At a terminal altitude of 29,028 feet, they stood triumphant atop the highest peak in the world. With nimble words and a straightforward style, New Zealand mountaineering legend Hillary recollects the bravery and frustration, the agony and glory that marked his Everest odyssey. From the 1951 expedition that led to the discovery of the Southern Route, through the grueling Himalayan training of 1952, and on to the successful 1953 expedition led by Colonel John Hunt, Hillary conveys in precise language the mountain's unforgiving conditions. In explicit detail he recalls an Everest where chaotic icefalls force costly detours, unstable snow ledges promise to avalanche at the slightest misstep, and brutal weather shifts from pulse-stopping cold to fiendish heat in mere minutes. In defiance of these torturous conditions, Hillary remains enthusiastic and never hesitates in his quest for the summit. Despite the enormity of his and Norgay's achievement, he regards himself, Norgay, and the other members of his expedition as hardworking men, not heroes. And while he never would have reached the top without practiced skill and technical competence, his thrilling memoir speaks first to his admiration of the human drive to explore, to understand, to risk, and to conquer. (Vladimir M Zakharov, "Linking Developmental Stability and Environmental Stress: A Whole Organism Approach", January 2003)

b) James Ramsey Ullman, Man of Everest: The Autobiography of Tenzing, London: George Harrap & Co, 1955

320 pages including the colour photographic frontispiece and 18 pages of photographs; original cloth bound covered with dust jacket
21.5 x 14.8 x 3 cm

Boldly signed in Nepali and English by Tenzing Norgay on the half title page and dated 13/6/58. Books signed by Norgay are rare.

Sidar Tenzing Norgay was a Sherpa mountaineer born in Nepal. He climbed Everest alongside Hillary, and they reached the summit together on 29 May 29, 1953, at 11.30am. Earlier on in the expedition to Everest's summit, Norgay saved Hillary from a near-miss when he fell into a crevasse. Norgay's quick thinking secured Hillary's rope, thus preventing him from hitting the bottom. As a result, Hillary made Norgay his climbing partner of choice for the final ascent. Time named him one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century. In 2003, India's highest adventure sports award, the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award was renamed after him.

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