SCI-TECH

Cambridge University buys photo negatives from ill-fated Antarctic expedition

The Associated Press Published Monday, March 31, 2014 7:28AM EDT

This is a handout image released by Cambridge University on Wednesday Jan. 10, 2007 of the members of Capt Scott's ill fated South Pole expedition pose at the pole in January 1912. The team are standing, left to right - Lt. Henry (Birdie) Bowers, Capt Robert Falcon Scott, Dr Edward Adrian Wilson. Seated, left to right - Petty Officer (PO) Edgar Evans, Capt Lawrence (Titus) Oates. (AP / Cambridge University, HO)

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LONDON - Cambridge University says it has raised 275,000 pounds ($458,000) to buy rare photographic negatives from Capt. Robert Falcon Scott's ill-fated Antarctic expedition.

Scott, an icon of the heroic age of polar exploration, reached the South Pole in January 1912, only to discover that he'd been beaten by Norway's Roald Amundsen. Scott and four companions died of hunger and exhaustion on the trek back to base camp. Their stoicism in the face of doom turned them into national heroes.

The 113 negatives, taken by Scott, were discovered in 2012 in a private collection.

The owner offered Cambridge the first chance to buy them.

The university's Scott Polar Research Institute said Monday that it had raised the money through private donations and a grant from the National Heritage Memorial Fund.