Photograph, unidentified woman

Object reference: RA 0679

Height:  19.3 cm

Width: 11.5 cm

Materials: glass, wood, paper

Portrait photograph in gold coloured frame. The mount is embossed with a medallion bearing a Gothic letter L.
Pictured is a young woman in a dark walking suit, with hat and muff. We still don’t know her identity or why her photograph is in Roald Amundsen’s home.

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Photograph, unidentified woman

Object reference: RA 0672

Height:  10.7 cm

Width: 7.3 cm

Materials: glass, wood, paper

Despite what appears to be a signature below this photograph, we still don’t know who this woman is or why her photograph is in Roald Amundsen’s home.

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Photograph, Benito Mussolini, signed

Object reference: RA 0662

Height:  22 cm

Width: 16 cm

Materials: glass, wood, paper

Portrait photograph of Benito Mussolini with a signed personal greeting to Roald Amundsen.

In April 1924, Amundsen was in Italy in connection with the planned expedition to cross the Arctic Ocean with two Dornier-Wal flying boats, which were being built under licence in Pisa. Amundsen met Mussolini in Milan, where he was presented with this photograph.

Amundsen and Mussolini also met in connection with the 1926 Norge expedition, but their relationship deteriorated markedly following Amundsen’s criticisms of Umberto Nobile and the other Italian crew members after the expedition.

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Click on the logo to explore the photograph at DigitaltMuseum.
Mussolini’s portrait on display in Amundsen’s home. The date of this photograph is unknown, but the model of the Dornier flying boat still hangs from the living room ceiling. Photo: Follo museum, MiA.
1872
Roald Amundsen born July 16
1880
Starts at Otto Andersen’s School
1886
Jens Engebreth Amundsen dies
1887 – 1889
Polar interest aroused
1890
Starting university
1893
Gustava Amundsen (née. Sahlqvist) dies
1893
Mountain ski tour with Urdahl and Holst
1894
Hunting in Arctic waters with the Magdalena
1895
Ship’s Officer’s exam
1896
Hardangervidda with Leon
1897 – 1899
Belgica expedition
1899
Cycling from Christiania to Paris
1900
Studying geomagnetism in Hamburg
1903 – 1906
Gjøa expedition
1907
Polar bears as draft animals
1908
Amundsen buys Uranienborg
1909
The North Pole reached?
1910 – 1912
Fram expedition
1914
Amundsen becomes a pilot
1916 – 1917
The polar ship Maud is being built
1918
Maud expedition
1922
Nita and Camilla move in
1923
Uranienborg for sale
1924
Amundsen goes bankrupt
1924
Photograph, Benito Mussolini, signed
1925
To 88 degrees north
1926
Norge expedition
1927
Lecture tour in Japan
1928
Latham flight
1934 – 1935
Uranienborg becomes a museum
1938
Betty’s house burns down
2015
A chest full of photographs is discovered
2020
Roald Amundsen’s home goes digital

Portrait photograph. Adolphus Washington Greely

Object reference: RA 0674

Height: 13.5 cm

Width: 10.5 cm

Materials: paper, glass, wood

Date: unknown

Adolphus Washington Greely (1844-1935) was an American polar explorer, best known for the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881-84).

We don’t know when Amundsen acquired this photograph, but we do know that he and Greely were in contact, because Amundsen’s book collection includes a signed copy of Greely’s book, “Handbook of Alaska, its resources, products and attractions” (1909). The greeting on the book’s inside cover reads, “To my friend Captain Roald Amundsen, A W Greely.”
In the private archive left by Roald Amundsen and now kept at the National Library, there are three letters and a telegram from Greely to Amundsen, written in the years 1906, 1924 and 1926.

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Photograph. Raymond Lee Newcomb

Object reference: RA 0678

Height: 14 cm

Width: 10 cm

Materials: paper, glass, twood

Framed photograph of a man seated in a chair. Dedication: “To Capt. Roald Amundsen, with the friendship of Raymond Lee Newcomb. Nov 10/07.”

Raymond Lee Newcomb was an American scientist and one of only ten survivors from the American Jeannette expedition, officially known as the U.S. Arctic Expedition (1879-81). Led by George Washington De Long, the expedition aimed to reach the North Pole, but suffered heavy losses when their ship, the Jeannette, was crushed by the ice. Of the crew of thirty-three, twenty men died.

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Photograph. David Legge Brainard

Object reference: RA 0676

Height: 21.5 cm

Width: 13.7 cm

Materials: paper, glass, wood

Portrait photograph of David Legge Brainard in uniform, inscribed, “To Captain Roald Amundsen from his admirer and friend D.L. Brainard, San Francisco, Cal, March 12th 1908.”

Brainard (1856-1946) was an officer in the United States Army and one of the survivors of the American Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881-1884), led by Adolphus Greely.

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1897-99 Belgica expedition. Album

A red album containing photographs from the Belgica expedition.
Written on the inside cover is a greeting from the expedition captain, Georges Lecointe: “A mon compagnon de voyage le lieutenant Amundsen [To my travelling companion, Lieutenant Amundsen], Bruxelles, le 31 Octobre 1900.”
The photographs show scenes from the journey to Antarctica, portraits of the expedition personnel, and scenes from the overwintering in the ice.

Related resources

1872
Roald Amundsen born July 16
1880
Starts at Otto Andersen’s School
1886
Jens Engebreth Amundsen dies
1887 – 1889
Polar interest aroused
1890
Starting university
1893
Gustava Amundsen (née. Sahlqvist) dies
1893
Mountain ski tour with Urdahl and Holst
1894
Hunting in Arctic waters with the Magdalena
1895
Ship’s Officer’s exam
1896
Hardangervidda with Leon
1897 – 1899
Belgica expedition
1897 – 1899
1897-99 Belgica expedition. Album
1899
Cycling from Christiania to Paris
1900
Studying geomagnetism in Hamburg
1903 – 1906
Gjøa expedition
1907
Polar bears as draft animals
1908
Amundsen buys Uranienborg
1909
The North Pole reached?
1910 – 1912
Fram expedition
1914
Amundsen becomes a pilot
1916 – 1917
The polar ship Maud is being built
1918
Maud expedition
1922
Nita and Camilla move in
1923
Uranienborg for sale
1924
Amundsen goes bankrupt
1925
To 88 degrees north
1926
Norge expedition
1927
Lecture tour in Japan
1928
Latham flight
1934 – 1935
Uranienborg becomes a museum
1938
Betty’s house burns down
2015
A chest full of photographs is discovered
2020
Roald Amundsen’s home goes digital

1910-12 Fram expedition. Photos of Fram

These photographs were discovered in a chest in an outbuilding at Uranienborg in 2015📜. Several show Fram during and after the 1910-12 expedition to Antarctica, while others show life on board. Also shown is the ceremony before Andreas Beck’s burial at sea in 1914.

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Related resources

1872
Roald Amundsen born July 16
1880
Starts at Otto Andersen’s School
1886
Jens Engebreth Amundsen dies
1887 – 1889
Polar interest aroused
1890
Starting university
1893
Gustava Amundsen (née. Sahlqvist) dies
1893
Mountain ski tour with Urdahl and Holst
1894
Hunting in Arctic waters with the Magdalena
1895
Ship’s Officer’s exam
1896
Hardangervidda with Leon
1897 – 1899
Belgica expedition
1899
Cycling from Christiania to Paris
1900
Studying geomagnetism in Hamburg
1903 – 1906
Gjøa expedition
1907
Polar bears as draft animals
1908
Amundsen buys Uranienborg
1909
The North Pole reached?
1910 – 1912
Fram expedition
1910 – 1912
1910-12 Fram expedition. Photos of Fram
1914
Amundsen becomes a pilot
1916 – 1917
The polar ship Maud is being built
1918
Maud expedition
1922
Nita and Camilla move in
1923
Uranienborg for sale
1924
Amundsen goes bankrupt
1925
To 88 degrees north
1926
Norge expedition
1927
Lecture tour in Japan
1928
Latham flight
1934 – 1935
Uranienborg becomes a museum
1938
Betty’s house burns down
2015
A chest full of photographs is discovered
2020
Roald Amundsen’s home goes digital

1910-12 Fram expedition. Photographs of Equator party, 2 October 1910

These photographs were discovered in a chest at Uranienborg in 2015 and show the festivities on board Fram during the Equator party en route to Antarctica. 📜

On 2 October 1910, the Fram expedition’s “crossing the line” celebrations saw the entire ship decorated with flags and banners. Coffee, wine and brandy were served with biscuits, and a show was arranged on deck. First came music from Knut Sundbeck and Kristian Prestrud with the mandolin, and even the dogs were invited to dance. Next on stage was Hjalmar Fredrik Gjertsen dressed in a white dress like a ballerina, followed by Captain Thorvald Nilsen, dressed in clogs, tie, hat and trousers and telling stories. From the gramophone that hung under the boom of the mainsail, songs such as “Ja, vi elsker” (Norway’s national anthem), “Dollarprinsessen”, “Les millions d’Arlequin”, “Graf von Luxemburg” and “The happy troll” rang out over the ocean.

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Related resources

1872
Roald Amundsen born July 16
1880
Starts at Otto Andersen’s School
1886
Jens Engebreth Amundsen dies
1887 – 1889
Polar interest aroused
1890
Starting university
1893
Gustava Amundsen (née. Sahlqvist) dies
1893
Mountain ski tour with Urdahl and Holst
1894
Hunting in Arctic waters with the Magdalena
1895
Ship’s Officer’s exam
1896
Hardangervidda with Leon
1897 – 1899
Belgica expedition
1899
Cycling from Christiania to Paris
1900
Studying geomagnetism in Hamburg
1903 – 1906
Gjøa expedition
1907
Polar bears as draft animals
1908
Amundsen buys Uranienborg
1909
The North Pole reached?
1910 – 1912
Fram expedition
1910 – 1912
1910-12 Fram expedition. Photographs of Equator party, 2 October 1910
1914
Amundsen becomes a pilot
1916 – 1917
The polar ship Maud is being built
1918
Maud expedition
1922
Nita and Camilla move in
1923
Uranienborg for sale
1924
Amundsen goes bankrupt
1925
To 88 degrees north
1926
Norge expedition
1927
Lecture tour in Japan
1928
Latham flight
1934 – 1935
Uranienborg becomes a museum
1938
Betty’s house burns down
2015
A chest full of photographs is discovered
2020
Roald Amundsen’s home goes digital

 

1912-14, the South Pole dog Obersten, photographs

Obersten (The Colonel) was one of three Greenland Dogs who came back to Norway after the Fram expedition. Obersten was the only one of these who in addition had been on the sledge journey all the way to the Pole, when he was part of Oscar Wisting‘s team.

After they arrived in Norway, Obersten and the other dogs lived for a time at Amundsen’s home in Svartskog, but during summer 1914 Obersten moved to Wisting’s home in Horten. When Obersten died is not known, but it was probably during 1919-20.

When the Ski Museum at Frognerseteren (today’s Holmenkollen) was to be established, Obersten’s skin was recovered and stuffed. Obersten is now on display at the Ski Museum in front of the tent and equipment from the South Pole expedition.

These photographs of Obersten and several of Amundsen’s other dogs were found in a chest at Uranienborg in 2015.

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Related resources