MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Rare vintage photo of first expedition to reach the South Pole

This picture is the only original photograph of polar explorer Roald Amundsen's arrival at the South Pole in 1911. Courtesy National Library of Australia.

The only known vintage print of the first expedition to reach the South Pole has been uncovered at the National Library of Australia. The small brown photograph shows Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's arrival at the pole in 1911.

It was discovered in an album titled “Tasmanian Views” by Australian photographer Edward W Searle, who made the print shortly after the expedition.

The rare photo was uncovered by Harald Ostgaard Lund from the National Library of Norway, which only has copy prints in its collection.

Library curator Linda Groom said the discovery followed months of painstaking work sifting through the library's collection of more than 700,000 images.

“And with such a vast number of images in our collection, it will be a long time before every single image within an album can be catalogued,” she said in a statement.

Amundsen's expedition arrived at the South Pole on December 14, 1911, beating Sir Robert Falcon Scott and his ill-fated party by 34 days.

The iconic image can be viewed upon request and will go on loan to Norway in time for a special exhibition marking the 100th anniversary of the expedition.