Apr 03, 2008 - Sale 2140

Sale 2140 - Lot 21

Price Realized: $ 2,400
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 2,000 - $ 3,000
The Lake Regions of Central Equatorial Africa. 12 tinted wood-engraved plates; folding engraved map. Half-titles. 2 volumes. 8vo, original red cloth, some light soiling and discoloration on covers, gilt spine lettering rubbed; later 19th-century institutional stamp on titles, marginal browning on some plates. London, 1860

Additional Details

first edition, in the second issue bound in red cloth, of the narrative of the 2-year expedition undertaken by Burton and Speke to find the source of the Nile, which culminated in an acrimonious feud. Strained relations between them worsened after Speke discovered Lake Victoria (which he correctly believed to be the source) while Burton lay ill. Reaching England first and announcing his discovery independently of Burton, Speke was chosen by the Royal Geographical Society to lead a return expedition without him. His findings continued to be disputed by Burton and others as unsatisfactorily proven. Abbey Travel 275; Casada 42; Penzer, pages 65-66.