James Bruce. Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773. Lo... (Total: 5 Items)

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Extra Engraved Plates of African Flora

James Bruce. Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, in the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, and 1773. London: J. Ruthven, 1790.

First edition. Five quarto volumes. lxxxiii, 535; viii, 718; viii, 759; viii, 695; xiv, 230 pages, plus index and list of plates. Fifty-nine engraved plates. Three large folding maps. The list of plates calls for a total of fifty-three, but the flora section in Volume V contains an additional six plates.

Full original mottled calf over boards. Rebacked, retaining original boards and backstrips. Morocco title labels to spines. Front hinges and front joints to Volumes I and III broken, but boards held by binding cords. Some moderate dampstaining to the edges of some volumes. Overall an attractive set in very good condition.

"James Bruce (1730-1794), the first modern European explorer of Africa, travelled from Alexandria in Egypt to Ethiopia and 'discovered' the headwaters of the Blue Nile. It was a journey that rekindled European interest in the interior of Africa, especially in the elusive main source of the Nile" (Shackley). From the Professor John Ralph Willis Collection of Rare Africana.

Myra L. Stanley, Atlas of Travel and Tourism Development, 58.