Drawing of Tahiti by William Hodges

There aren't many places where you might spot a chap in a cravat and Gore-Tex jacket (looking spiffing at that), but Christie's in St. James's, London, is one of them. This week, items are on view for the annual Exploration and Travel auction (September 26-27), including artifacts from the peripatetic T. E. Lawrence, Henry Morton Stanley, and Robert Falcon Scott.
Chamounix by Godfrey Nicolas Frankenstein (1820-1875)

The sale, this year themed "The Alps to Everest," celebrates the 150th anniversary of the Alpine Club. An exquisite pen and ink vignette of Tahiti (top image) by William Hodges, the artist on Captain James Cook's second Pacific voyage, is expected to fetch £100-150,000. Also featured are art and artifacts of mountaineering, including John Ruskin's evocative watercolor of the Matterhorn (estimate £15,000-20,000), rare slides of the 1922 expedition to Mount Everest (£2-3,000), and four 1951 photographs reputedly capturing Yeti footprints (£1,800-2,500).
Peaks Near Nanga Parbat by Theodore Howard Somervell (1890-1975)
—Kelly Tyler-Lewis