1.
(Africa.) BURTON ([Captain] Sir Richard Francis) The Memorial Edition of the Works ... 7 Vols. Tylston and Edwards. 1893/94, colour lithographed and wood-engraved plates, 8vo., orig, black cloth, backstrips gilt lettered direct, occasional slight rubbing to heads, gilt blocked vignette of Arab figure and short Koranic inscription £1,550.00 on upper boards, black chalked endpapers, t.e.r., good Four works, all that were published, are included in this edition. They are: Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah and Meccah (2 volumes); A Mission to Gelele King of Dahome (2 volumes); Vikram and the Vampire; and First footsteps in East Africa (2 volumes).
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(Africa.) JOHNSTON (Sir Harry) The Nile Quest. A Record of the Exploration of the Nile and its Basin. Lawrence and Bullen, Ltd. 1903, FIRST EDITION , frontispiece with tissue-guard, 73 plates, and large folding colour map (closed marginal tear at mount), some scattered foxing, pp. xv, [i], 341, [1], 8vo., orig. green cloth, backstrip lettered in gilt, front board blocked and lettered in gilt, joints and corners scuffed, head and tail of backstrip bumped, good £100.00 Sir Henry Hamilton Johnson (known as ‘Harry’) published a number of books on Africa, based on his experiences of travel and colonial administration there. He was the first commissioner of the British Central Africa Protectorate (a.k.a. Nyasaland, now Malawi), later special commissioner of Uganda, and it was his expedition that first acquired physical evidence of the okapi, leading to its formal classification as ‘Okapia johnstoni’. This book is a history of earlier explorations of the Nile.
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(Africa.) PARK (Mungo) Travels in the interior districts of Africa. Performed under the direction and patronage of the African Association, in the years 1795, 1796 and 1797 ... with an appendix containing geographical illustrations of Africa by Major Rennell. G. and W. Nicol. 1799, FIRST EDITION , frontispiece portrait slightly foxed, pages browned towards beginning and end of text, 3 folding maps, 2 folding and 3 full-page plates, pp. xxviii, 372, [92], 4to., contemp. tree calf, rebacked and re-cornered, smooth backstrip with rope roll and double fillet gilt bands, orig. gilt lettered black morocco label in second compartment relaid, sides with decorative gilt border, ownership signature in contemp. hand on front pastedown, good ( Printing and the Mind of Man 253; Lowndes p.1775) £1,200.00 One of ‘the most important books of modern times’. Park was selected at the age of 24 by the African Association, through the influence of his friend Sir Joseph Banks, to lead an exploring expedition into the African interior. He set out from Senegal and was the first European to reach the Niger. He wrote, ‘looking forwards I saw with infinite pleasure the great object of my mission - the long sought for majestic Niger, glittering in the morning sun, as broad as the Thames at Westminster, and flowing to the eastwards. I hastened to the brink, and having drank the water, lifted up my fervent thanks in prayer to the great Ruler of all things, for having thus far crowned my endeavours with success.’ This first journey revealed many secrets of the Gambian hinterland, and the African Association were so grateful for his work that they published his account, insisting that it should be in the form of a narrative, for his benefit. ‘Until the publication of Park’s [first] book in 1799 hardly anything was known of the interior of Africa, apart from the north-east region and the coastal areas. Park’s Travels had an immediate success and was translated into