Scott team’s ‘selfie’ to go under the hammer

A “selfie” taken by explorer Captain Scott’s team after they arrived at the South Pole to discover the Norwegians had beaten them to it is to be sold at auction.

The January 1912 photograph of Scott and four other men is up for sale at Sotheby’s.

Cecilie Gasselholm, of the firm’s books department, said: “The photograph shows the five men reaching the South Pole and taking a ‘selfie’.

“When we say ‘selfie’, they had an automatic trigger for the camera. There were five of them and they all wanted to be in the photo.

“You can almost see the disappointment in their faces. [Norwegian explorer] Roald Amundsen had already reached the South Pole 34 days earlier.

“They saw the tent and the note that Amundsen had left for them. They must have between very disappointed.”

The five in the photograph, which is expected to fetch £1,200, all died before returning home.

Alsoonsaleareasilverspoon and fork from the expedition (estimate £600) and a copy of The South Polar Times, the newspaper printed in Scott’s hut in 1912 (£25,000).

The sale will also feature a collection of sea shanties sung on Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Antarctic expeditions (£1,200).

A photo of a dishevelled Shackleton, having just returned from the Antarctic, is valued at £5,000.