Through Unknown African Countries: The First Expedition from Somaliland to Lake Lamu

Description:

First edition. Illustrated by Charles Whymper (1853-1941), Arthur Twidle (1864-1936), and others. Arthur Donaldson Smith (1866-1939) was a noted American explorer, naturalist and big game hunter who, between 1894 and 1895, led an ambitious expedition to Lake Rudolf (now Lake Turkana). Over the course of this 4,000-mile journey through British Somaliland, southern Ethiopia, and Kenya, Smith and his team traversed largely unmapped territory while collecting a wide range of botanical, zoological, entomological, geological, and ethnographic specimens for scientific study. This detailed account of the expedition also chronicles his experiences with local communities and his pursuits as a big-game hunter.

The Appendices contain reports on the scientific collections made during the expedition including: Fishes by Albert Günther; Araneae by Eugene Simon; Solifugae, Scorpiones, Chilopoda and Diplopoda by R.I. Pocock; Lepidoptera, Heterocera by W.J. Holland; Geology by J.W. Gregory; Fossil Cephalopoda by G.C. Crick; Ethnographical objects by Stewart Culin; Coleoptera by Karl Jordan.

Czech p. 258.

Condition

Roy. 8vo, orig. cloth, rubbed, worn and repaired to head and foot of spine, gilt title to spine faded, fore- and bottom edge uncut, some gatherings unopened; some minor spotting to page edges, tissue guard to frontispiece foxed. Good. From the library of British dipterist, D.J. Greathead (1931-2006), with his name to endpaper.