[Africa]. Mungo Park. Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa... London: Printed by Bulmer and Co. for the Autho...

Description

Quarto. xxviii, [6], 372, xcii pages. With frontispiece portrait, five plates (two are folding), three fold-out maps (one with routes in color), with the two pages of engraved music. Contemporary quarter black morocco over marbled boards, gilt, spine ruled and lettered in gilt, marbled edges. Binding worn, hinges starting, minor occasional offsetting or toning in text. Still, a very good example of this important travel book.

"Until the publication of Park's book in 1799, hardly anything was known of the interior of Africa, apart from the north-east region and the coastal areas. Park's Travels had an immediate success and was translated into most European languages. It has become a classic of travel literature, and its scientific observations on the botany and meteorology of the region, and on the social and domestic life of the negroes, have remained of lasting value". [PMM].

Cox I, p. 394. Printing and the Mind of Man 253.