Survival Mode

Byrd’s diary is an exceptional account of human resiliency and survival. He began his time at the Bolling Base in high spirits, updating his diaries with musings on life, happiness, and his daily tasks, which included building out a forty foot tunnel to act as an escape route.

However, signs of a crack in his physical and mental wellbeing began to creep into Byrd’s accounts as early as April 17, when the sun set for the final time that winter, leaving him alone at the helm of a four-month night.

By May 4th, in a telling entry, he is irritable and depressed: "Don't know what's the matter. Too much carbon monoxide; the lack of sun and some important vitamin...; seeing no other human being; too much cold; too little exercise; too much monotony; etc. As a matter of fact, I don't think its any of these things: I think it's me..."

Nearly two months into his mission, on May 31, Byrd suffered a collapse from inhaling carbon monoxide from his stove and a defective generator. Miraculously, he endured June and July, while he was continually poisoned by his only source of heat in the frigid Antarctic winter.

He explained his predicament succinctly on June 8: "To cut the poison, I must endure the freezing cold. To reduce the cold, I must endure the poison. It's a tough problem. Don't feel I can endure much either way."

His condition continued to worsen, and his diary entries became more desperate, and then sparse, before finally, on August 10, he was miraculously rescued.

From Diary to Best-Seller

During his time at Bolling Advance, Byrd kept two diaries. One was a simple account of his daily doings, while the other, included in this auction, contained both his day-to-day activities and philosophical musings.

In 1938, Byrd published Alone, an autobiographical account of his time at the advance base, which has since become one of the most lauded accounts of Polar exploration. Written with author Charlie Murphy as ghostwriter, Alone has been revered for its intense inner scrutiny and resolve, as well as the source for interesting considerations on autobiography and narrative.

While much of Byrd’s diary was not used in the book verbatim, the account outlined in Alone is based largely on the primary source, which provides an illuminating perspective on a variety of subjects including exploration, survival, autobiography, and narrative integrity.

An extraordinary document of one the greatest explorers of the golden age, the diary of Admiral Richard Byrd at the Bolling Advance Base over the winter of 1934 sheds new light on one of the most important stories of 20th-century exploration, and of human resilience and survival.