The Ascent of the Matterhorn

When Whymper set out from Zermatt for the summit of the Matterhorn on 14 July 1865 on his many attempts, he would both achieve success and failure. Of the seven of his team, only Whymper and two Swiss guides would return alive. Disaster struck on the way back down under circumstances still not fully explained. The controversial death of the three British climbers – one of them the 18- year-old heir to an ancient title – spread like wildfire around the world. It made Whymper’s and Zermatt’s fame notorious around the world and Whymper’s book on the ascent the first exploration classic. Few thought of travelling to the Alps until John Ruskin extolled their rugged beauty in 1842. More than anyone, it was 25-year-old Edward Whymper who imbued them once again with a sense of alarming mystery after his Alpine memoir and first ascent of the Matterhorn. Inspiring the birth of mountain climbing, his book is still as fresh as when he wrote it as a love letter to the unique Alpine world and the fierceness of nature he discovered. Armed with a pick-axe, he climbed in tweeds and leather shoes, alone or with local hunters and craftsmen who carried the ropes, stores, tents and hacked steps in the ice. Even today, the mountain is treacherous and has recorded over 500 deaths since Whymper reached its peak.

As an engraver, Edward Whymper enthusiastically embraced the rapidly advancing art of photography. In 1874, he took a portable camera and plates up the Matterhorn-a first-to turn photographs into engravings for a new edition of his book, and, in 1883, to include as lantern slides with talks (inspiring in teenage Winston Churchill, for one, a lifelong passion for the Alps). In this volume, these photographs are added to Whympers original engravings and Alpine advice, to accompany his dramatic story-and many appear in print for the first time.