The Mammals of Somaliland

Description:

First edition. An important early account of the mammalian fauna of Somaliland, based upon Drake-Brockman's own observations during five years spent in the country. As he explains in the Preface, the work was intended to be of interest both to naturalists and to sportsmen. Among the numerous mammals treated are elephant, lion, rhinoceros and a wide variety of antelopes, with notes on distribution, habits and identification supplemented by the author's own experiences in the field, including brief accounts of stalking particular species and observations on their behaviour.

Ralph Evelyn Drake-Brockman (1875-1952) was a British physician, army officer and natural-history collector. After service in South Africa and East Africa he transferred to the Somaliland Protectorate in 1904, where his prolonged residence provided the first-hand observations upon which this work was largely based. He subsequently published the more wide-ranging British Somaliland (1912).

Czech, K. An Annotated Bibliography of African Big Game Hunting Books, 1785–1999 (2011), p. 84. This binding variant apparently not recorded by Czech.

Condition

8vo, orig. green cloth, gilt title to spine, top edge gilt. Light bump to corner of upper board. Withdrawn from an institutional library with neat stamps to title page and versos of plates, small circular shelf labels to spine. Otherwise a very clean, fresh copy, the cloth bright and the contents well preserved. Very good.