Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile

Description:

First edition. A landmark account of Victorian exploration, this first-hand narrative documents John Hanning Speke’s 1860-1863 expedition that identified Lake Victoria as the headwaters of the Nile. Combining travel diary, geographical observation, and ethnographic detail, it became a foundational text in African exploration literature and a pivotal work in the long-debated quest to locate the Nile’s source. The volume also includes dramatic accounts of big-game hunting. Most of the illustrations are by Captain James Augustus Grant (1827-1892), who accompanied Speke on this famous expedition.

Czech p. 260; Hilmy II p. 255.

Condition

8vo (230x148mm), recased in orig. brown cloth, gilt vignette of King of Uganda to front board (faded), new endpapers, rebacked with original slightly worn backstrip laid down, gilt title to spine (lettering a little faded). Occasional light spotting; margin of one preliminary leaf soiled and slightly frayed. 15 leaves of publisher's catalogue at rear neatly excised, leaving the stubs, possibly to help accommodate the folding map in rear pocket. Previous owner's name in pencil to blank recto of frontispiece; some pencil notes to lower blank section of final page of Introduction. Good.