(AFRICA--TRAVEL AND EXPLORATION.) ANDERSON, BENJAMIN. Narrative of a Journey to Musardu, The Capital of the Western Mandingoes. Large folding map preceding the title-page, with short closed tears at the conjunction of the folds, two inserted plates. 8vo, original green pebble-grained cloth with beveled edges, title in gilt on the upper cover and spine, the latter with some abrading to the extremities, delicate chocolate-colored endpapers intact. Contemporary ownership signature of "L.M. Robinson" at the top of the title-page (Robinson was a missionary for a divinity school in Philadelphia). New York, 1870
first edition, scarce. Benjamin Anderson (1835-1910), American-born Liberian explorer, was at the forefront of urging the young Liberian government to establish a viable economic and political presence in the deep interior. The present narrative is an account of his travel to the interior of what is today's Guinea. Anderson had migrated to Liberia from Maryland when he was sixteen years old. He was educated there and grew to become three-time Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of the Interior, mathematics professor, official surveyor, diplomat, military officer, and accomplished cartographer. Musardu, the capital of the Mandingo people held much promise to enrich the young Liberian colony because of its reported gold, a strong political base, and most important, connections to the interior trade routes that extended to the Niger River and beyond. Anderson made careful note of the peoples, their customs, and the natural resources of those areas he passed through. Using the information from Anderson's report, the Liberian government moved to assert limited control over the inland region.
