F I N E B O O K S & M A N U S C R I P T S
The Remarkable Archive Of E. H. Shackleton’s Surgeon 25. The Shackleton-Macklin Archive SHACKLETON, Ernest H.; MACKLIN, Alexander Hepburne 1914-1922. The extraordinary record of Alexander Macklin’s service alongside Ernest Shackleton over a remarkable eight years, which saw him join two expeditions to the Antarctic, serve on the Western Front, and head to the Arctic with the North Russia Expedition- ary Force. Comprising unpublished manuscripts, autograph letters, original expedi- tion contracts, photographs and a host of other material. [42894] £50,000 Dr Alexander Macklin wrote to E. H. Shackleton on the 23rd April 1914, seeking to join The Im- perial Trans-Antarctic Expedition as a surgeon. The two letters from Shackleton of May 1914 are in response to his application and about the arranging of an interview, and the employment con- tract of 21st July 1914 confirms Macklin’s appointment and notes his salary of £200 per annum. The story of the Endurance expedition up until the destruction of the ship is covered compre- hensively in Macklin’s own unpublished account, present here in manuscript and typescript. Additional colour is added to the early stages of the expedition by the long letters he wrote to his parents from South Georgia, written throughout November 1914. Although surgeons typically had little medical work to do on Antarctic expeditions, the Endur- ance was an exception. When they had reached Elephant Island Rickinson had a heart condition, Blackborow had gangrene requiring amputation, Hudson was having a nervous breakdown, and Kerr had a tooth removed without anaesthetic; to say nothing of the repeated cases of frostbite. Despite this, Macklin and his fellow surgeon James McIlroy, kept all of their men alive On his return to Britain, Macklin immediately offered his services to the War Office, and served on the Western Front and in Italy, before following Shackleton and other Endurance colleagues to the Arctic circle with the North Russia Expeditionary Force. Shackleton was commissioned as a “temporary major while specially employed” to oversee the supply of Arctic equipment to troops in Murmansk. In this Arctic adventure he was joined by his Antarctic colleagues of Macklin, Joseph Stenhouse and Frank Worsley. The archive contains some of Macklin’s original orders, letters referring to his service, and a complete autograph manuscript titled Influenza Among The Lapps , a medical study on the spread of the disease in the region during wartime. For his service in North Russia, Macklin was awarded the OBE in February 1920. The following March Macklin returned to Shackleton’s service for what would become his final voyage, The Shackleton-Rowett Expedition of 1921-2. In the archive is a carbon of a letter from Macklin to Shackleton dated 31st August 1921 in which he provides his full particulars for the expedition, including his education, previous experience and military service, and salary. Also present is Macklin’s full contract for the expedition, an attractively printed document, sewn with green string in the manner of the Aurora Australis. It is signed by Shackleton and Rowett, and witnessed by their solicitor. The fourteen photographs of the expedition show Shackleton on the Quest, the ship in St Catherine’s Docks and at sea, and Macklin on the foremast. Significant original material relating to the Golden Age of Antarctic Exploration is rare, even in isolation. Extensive collections such as this, spanning letters, contracts, photographs, manuscripts and typescripts are most uncommon, and gives the record of an extraordinary Antarctic career. A comprehensive catalogue detailing the full contents of the archive is available on request.
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