Details

BURCHELL, William John [1781-1863].. Travels In The Interior Of Southern Africa.

2 Volumes. pp. 1 p.l., [v]-viii, [8], 582; 3 p.l., 648. complete with errata slip but lacking half-titles. Hints on Emigration bound at the beginning of the first volume. large folding engraved map & 20 hand-coloured aquatint plates (5 folding). 96 wood-engravings in the text. full modern dark blue morocco (occasional minor offsetting or light foxing, short tear in map fold - no loss). First edition. "The most valuable and accurate work on South Africa published up to the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and embracing a description of a large part of the Cape Colony and Bechuanaland at this period. Theal ('History of South Africa, 1795-1834') remarks that the author was 'a man of talent, an easy writer, and scrupulously exact in his descriptions', and according to Sclater he was 'a most skillful and well-trained zoologist and botanist, and his observations are all accurate and methodical.' Burchell penetrated as far as 'Lattakoo' (afterwards known as Kuruman), and during his explorations, which extended over a period of four years, made important collections of the fauna, flora, and curiosities of the country, together with a large number of drawings. Generally speaking, Burchell appears to have been favourably impressed by the Boers.The author's name is perpetuated in the country by the appellation of 'Burchell's Zebra' (equus burchelli), a species of quagga discovered by him 'in the country immediately to the north of the Orange River.he was also the first to mention the existence of asbestos in this part of the country. The illustrations in the volumes are characterized by great beauty and accuracy, and it is stated in the Preface that, 'in order to ensure greater correctness in the vignettes, the author has made all these drawings upon the blocks themselves'; the coloured plates are particularly admired, and the drawings from which they were engraved were prepared with great care by the artist, and were untouched by any other hand. The work is now extremely scarce, many copies having been broken up in the middle of the nineteenth century for the plates." (Mendelssohn) Some of the panoramic views were executed on the then practically unknown principle of scenographic projection on the surface of a revolving cylinder. The work covers Burchell's explorations in 1811 and 1812. A third volume relating his travels from 1812 to 1815 was projected but never published. In all Burchell claimed that his African collections consisted of 63,000 natural objects, 500 drawings, and a mass of astronomical, meteorological, and other observations and notes. A selection of his specimens were presented to the British museum following his return and are now in South Kensington. Abbey, Travel, 327. Mendelssohn I p. 224. Prideaux pp. 239 & 329. Tooley 116.

$9000 USD