1872
Roald Amundsen born July 16
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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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
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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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
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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