Everest. Tom Stobart (1914-1980) OBE. An archive of camera equipment, scientific instruments and ephemera amassed during the career of this adventurer and ground-breaking filmmaker, best remembered as the cameraman to the British Mount Everest Expedition, 1953 - the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. Comprising:Autographs: An original used food package from the British Mount Everest Expedition, 1953, signed by John Hunt, Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary. The signatures, though faded, are visibly inscribed 'Everest '53' by Hunt. The foil package, bearing an official expedition label, originally contained 'cocoa', 'orangeade powder' and a 'banana bar', which was consumed during the expedition. 33.5cm by 23.5cm. Framed & glazed.Miscellaneous Items: An ice axe, originally used by Tom Stobart during the Tibetan Hunt for the "Abominable Snowman" in 1954, 65cm; a canvas painting of the bhavacakra [Wheel of Life], donated by a Tibetan Buddhist monastery or temple to Tom Stobart during the British Mount Everest Expedition, 1953, and originally rolled and carried by him during the expedition, 72.5cm by 52cm; two Tibetan tea urns, 34cm height, acquired by Tom Stobart during either the Everest expedition or hunt for the "Abominable Snowman".Ephemera: An official programme for the 'First Performance of "The Conquest of Everest", In the gracious presence of Her Majesty the Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh', with Thomas Stobart listed in the credits as the filmmaker, plus loosely inserted tickets for said 'First Performance' as well as a 'Special Pre-view of the Film' (Mr. & Mrs. R. F. Stobart); a letter inviting Mr. Stobart to meet the members of the Everest Expedition at London Airport, on British Mount Everest Expedition 1953 letterhead (Royal Geographical Society), dated 30 June 1953, plus a sheet outlining arrangements for said meeting; an English translation of Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's speech, 29 June 1953; The Conquest of Everest with Hunt, Hillary and Tensing, Countryman Films programme, [1953], with loosely-inserted compliments slip from Countryman Films Ltd.; a scrapbook of newspaper clippings recording the Everest expedition, including clippings about Tom Stobart, 'cameraman to the expedition'; three black & white photographs depicting Tom Stobart; a quantity of loose newspaper clippings relating to the Everest expedition and 'Yeti Hunt', to include The Times colour supplement, 'Everest', 1953, and a facsimile of The Times newspaper, 3 June 1953, produced by Royal Mint in presentation box.Camera Equipment: A Paillard Bolex H-16 Reflex 16mm cine camera, possibly used by Tom Stobart during the hunt for the "Abominable Snowman", but certainly used by him for the later cookery programmes in his career; a Paillard Bolex Swiss-made speed-control motor in fitted carrying case; an Adam's "Minex", London, De Luxe Model plate camera, in fitted Adam's velvet-lined, leather carrying case.Scientific Instruments, Lenses & Specimens: Thomas Armstrong & Brother, Manchester & Liverpool, No. 474, microscope with attachments in fitted, lockable mahogany case with brass carrying handle; a brass microscope by C. Baker, London; a mahogany campaign case of lenses & attachments, two engraved 'Smith & Beck, 6 Coleman Street, London', with loose card of manuscript notes/measurements; a Powell & Lealand, London brass microscope attachment, together with glass bottles & accessories in a modern wooden case; a 19th-century mahogany 18-drawer specimen cabinet housing a quantity of glass slides, including leaf scales, pollen grains, fungal spores, and other specimens, most with manuscript labels, the final drawer housing an Abbe's Test Platte in Carl Zeiss morocco case; a 19th-century mahogany 12-drawer specimen cabinet housing a quantity of glass slides, including insect antennae, marine biology, sections of butterfly wings, feathers, and other specimens, most with manuscript labels, some from Australia and Peru, the empty section at base housing an exercise book with 4pp. of manuscript notes recording microscope details. NB: Some of the specimen slides are inscribed 'T.S.' [Tom Stobart], and some are inscribed 'R.F.S.' [Ralph Forrester Stobart].Provenance: By descent. The vendor's late father was Tom Stobart (1914-1980) OBE, a ground-breaking cameraman and filmmaker who in 1953 filmed the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. Stobart captured some of the most famous expeditions and achievements in human history. During his career, he followed a team of scientists exploring Antarctica in 1949, as well as the Tibetan hunt for the "Abominable Snowman" in 1954, but he's best remembered as being the cameraman to the British Mount Everest Expedition, 1953, and for his film The Conquest of Everest. Stobart was left partially disabled after being shot twice in the legs during a filming trip to Ethiopia in c. 1956. He died suddenly in 1980.
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