TRAVELS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA - VOL.I (1990) & VOL.II (1997) - both volumes SIGNED by all three contributors

Adulphe Delegorgue's account of his travels through Natal is extremely valuable as he was an eye witness to the Great Trek and saw the conflict arising between the Boers, British and Zulus over the contested land. He met the famous Voortrekker leader Andries Pretorius and even sketched him on the spot, and yet, to the frustration of the modern reader, Delegorgue appears to have been entirely unaware of the historical significance of the events unfolding before his very eyes. This was probably due to his preoccupation with hunting elephants, along with his intense desire to write a book on natural history that he hoped would surpass, or at least equal, that of his compatriot Francois Le Vaillant.

Publisher's original illustrated softcover bindings.

Both volumes are SIGNED on the title pages by all three contributors, i.e. Fleur Webb (translator), Stephanie J. Alexander and Colin de B. Webb (introductions and indexes). Volume II was not signed by Webb as he passed away before its completion, in his stead Bill Guest wrote the introduction and signed on the title page.

Volume one was published in 1990 and volume two in 1997. 

Volume I: xxxii + (xii) + 359pp. Illustrations and maps.

Volume II: xxxii + 401pp. Illustrations and maps (contains a modern map as frontispiece to aid the reader in following Delegorgue's route through Natal and Transvaal).

'To South Africa in 1838 came Adulphe Delegorgue, a young French naturalist with a passion for information, a keen eye and a ready wit . . . and a mighty elephant gun. The first volume of his famous Travels describes his brief journeyings in the Cape Colony and the early part of his several years of hunting and specimen collecting in Natal and Zululand. Volume 2 includes travels across the Limpopo River.

Fleur Webb's lively translation allows English readers, for the first time, to enjoy Delegorgue's ebullience, and to see through his eyes the Port Natal settlement, Trekker life, and the pomp and pageantry of Mpande's court. An especial pleasure is his account of the plants and animals of Natal and Zululand, still fresh and unspoiled by pollution and destructive exploitation.

Historian Colin Webb has provided an annotated general index and a preface assessing Delegorgue's importance as an observer of events at a moment of critical transition in South African history. An encyclopaedic natural history index has been compiled by zoologist Stephanie Alexander, who has also contributed a perceptive portrait of Delegorgue as a scientist.

No other tale of hunting and adventure, no other account of Boers and Zulus, no other chronicle of travels in nineteenth century southern Africa offers the reader such a rich blend of history, biology, Gallic charm - and vigorous entertainment.' - editor's note