SHACKLETON ERNEST: (1874-1922) Anglo-Irish Antarctic Explorer.

L.S., E H Shackleton, one page, 8vo, Marlborough Club, Pall Mall, 22nd June 1920, to Charles Büchel. Shackleton apologises to his correspondent for not having answered their letter, explaining that he has been away, and adds 'I will call one morning myself for the portrait in the near future. Would you please let me know what the cost is?' With blank integral leaf (small tear at the upper edge). VGCharles Büchel (1872-1950) British Artist. A well-known figure in theatrical circles, Büchel painted portraits of Henry Irving, Lillie Langtry and George Alexander and also designed programmes and posters for the theatre.Intriguingly, the present whereabouts of Büchel's portrait of Shackleton are not known. The present letter, and two related ones, would appear to be the only evidence of its existence. What would seem clear from the present lot is that the portrait was completed and that it came into Shackleton's own possession.Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton led three British expeditions to the Antarctic and is one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. His first experience of the polar regions was as third officer on Captain Robert Falcon Scott's Discovery Expedition 1901-04. In the preface to his 1922 book The Worst Journey in the World, Apsley Cherry-Garrard, one of Scott's team on the Terra Nova Expedition, wrote 'For a joint scientific and geographical piece of organisation, give me Scott; for a Winter Journey, Wilson; for a dash to the Pole and nothing else, Amundsen: and if I am in the devil of a hole and want to get out of it, give me Shackleton every time'.