Paterson's Cape Travels 1777 to 1779 (Standard Edition)

Brenthurst Series 6

William Patterson, the twenty-one year old son of a Scottish village gardener, set out for the Cape in 1777: as the protege of the young bluestocking, the Countess of Strathmore, he was commissioned by her to add to her collection of plants. A variety of new plant species was discovered on his four jouneys which embraced a grand sweep of 1,500 kilometers from the mouth of the Orange River in the west to the banks of the Keiskamma River in the east.

Although a version, which differs from this text was published in Patterson's lifetime, this original record of his Cape travels is published for the first time- a triumph of understatement, a laconic tour de force, and a marked contrast to the flamboyant verbosity of his immediate successor, Francois de Vaillant. It is the first full length account in English of extensive travel in the interior of southern Africa-9,000 kilometers were covered in little over two years-- and it records the ceremony of the naming of the Orange River, the first finding of fossils in southern Africa, and the first journey along the diamond coast.

While the account of Patterson's travels published in 1789 is today a valuable and sought after item of Africana, this original and annotated version is enhanced by full-colour illustrations of plants, people,animals and scenery, selected from Patterson's picture collection, and here published for the first time.

William Patterson rose to become the lieutenant governor of New South Wales later in life, but it is in Patterson's Cape Travels 1777-1779 that tribute is paid to this indefatigable traveller who contributed significantly to the field of botany.

Half Title, Colour Frontispiece, Title, Contents, List of Illustrations, Preface, 203 pages text with supporting images, colour plates, data and information. Slight tape residue to ends.

Very Good.

ISBN 0 909079 1 2 9 Standard Edition