Groundbreaking Vega Expedition Polar Archive to Auction
Louis Palander in polar outfit photographed at his arrival in Japan.
The private archive of explorer Captain Louis Palander af Vega will go under the hammer next month at Stockholms Auktionsverk.
Palander (1842–1920), captain of the ship Vega, was celebrated internationally after history's first successful navigation of the Northeast Passage, a trade route that currently is the focus of intense geopolitical discussion. The Vega Expedition established Sweden as one of the leading nations of exploration and the journey home through Europe became a triumphal procession, with receptions in London, Paris, and Rome, where Palander and expedition leader Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld were honoured by royalty and leading scientists.
Coming to auction on March 10 will be a collection which has been preserved within Palander's family for more than a century, including diaries, logbooks, photographs, nautical charts, and correspondence.
“This is not only an extraordinary collection, but a piece of world history," said Harald Hultqvist, specialist in antiquarian books and affiliated with Stockholms Auktionsverk. "The Vega Expedition was one of the great technological and logistical triumphs of its time, and Palander was the man who quite literally navigated the expedition to success. The reception at the time can almost be compared to the celebrations of astronauts after the moon landing, and yet the memory has faded.
"The Vega Expedition was a textbook example of Swedish leadership, planning, and courage but today it is almost forgotten. This collection gives us the opportunity to write it back into history."
The Vega Collection will be on public view from February 25 to March 9 at Stockholms Auktionsverk, Nybrogatan 32, Stockholm, and will conclude with the live auction on March 10.
