The illustrations in this booklet are all reproductions of genuine photographs from life, taken by the leader and staff of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition, during the voyage of the 'Scotia' 1902 - 1904. Practically all of them are unique, many of the mammals and birds never having been previously photographed. They were taken under conditions of climate which made photography extremely difficult and often impossible. They are not touched up in any way by the engravers and may be implicitly relied upon as correct representations of the actual environments of Antarctic mammals and birds. This Facsimile has been created from the original 1907 first edition, each photo has been professionally scanned.
William Speirs Bruce FRSE (1 August 1867 - 28 October 1921) was a British naturalist, polar scientist and oceanographer who organized and led the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition (SNAE, 1902-04) to the South Orkney Islands and the Weddell Sea. Among other achievements, the expedition established the first permanent weather station in Antarctica. Bruce later founded the Scottish Oceanographical Laboratory in Edinburgh,