Legendary mountaineer George Mallory wrote to his mother to say “the ink has begun to freeze” before he disappeared on Mount Everest in 1924, newly-discovered letters have revealed.
The writings record his first sight of the world’s tallest peak, which he described as “a terrible formidable mountain”, and include efforts to reassure his family with the words “I shall take every care I can”.
Mallory, who was born in the Cheshire village of Mobberley, died during the expedition in 1924 and his body was missing for 75 years.
His great-nephew Bill Newton Dunn, 84, said his wife had found the letters, “a precious family archive”, in a box secured with a pink ribbon.
“The letters mean a lot to me because they mention my grandmother [Mallory’s sister] Mary, so it’s a precious family archive and these are historical documents, so its important that they are well-looked after when they are sold,” he said.
The letters, alongside photographs and an ice axe thought to have been used by Mallory were auctioned off by Sotheby’s earlier this week.