VITTORIO SELLA. Gasherbrum IV, 1909, Sella number HK 198 Var. 11.4x15.4" gelatin silver print, printed c. 1909, unmounted. Inscribed in white ink recto: GASHERBAUM IV on print above the peak. Inscribed in pencil verso: a / 203

Gasherbrum IV is 7,932 m 26,001 ft. and is the 17th highest peak on planet Earth. Originally designated as K3. K=Karakoram from Thomas Montgomerie's Trigonometrical Survey of British India in 1856. Giving each Peak a K (Karakoram) number until a local name was designated.

Sella worked constantly, though the weather was a continual challenge. Sometimes he spent whole days patiently waiting on a ledge above camp, crouched beside his equipment, hoping for a break in the clouds. The cold penetrating wind pierced his thick woolens; his teeth chattered as he stamped his feet and slapped his hands together, waiting for the sky to clear in temperatures hovering around 20 degrees. The forced inactivity made his suffering acute, and when the storms worsened, he retreated into his tent to prepare a simple meal and wait for morning as the savage winds blew fine grains of ice through every cranny of the tent.

Good to Fair: Edges show discoloration, heavy wear, edge wear and corner wear with missing edges.