ANDREW SMITH'S JOURNAL OF HIS EXPEDITION INTO THE INTERIOR OF SOUTH AFRICA, 1834-36:

An authentic narrative of travels and discoveries, the manners and customs of the Native tribes and the physical nature of the country

Edited with an introduction and notes by William F. Lye; with contemporary illustrations by Charles Davidson Bell.

xii, 323 pages: illustrations (some colour), portraits, maps. Quarto. Quarter leather & marbled paper covered boards, dustwrapper slightly browned and spotted. Number 38 of an edition limited to 200 copies. Signed by Lye on a preliminary page.

Smith (1797-1872), son of a shepherd, was born in Scotland. His family apprenticed him to a medical doctor, and he graduated as a doctor in 1819, having joined the army in the interim. Smith arrived at the Cape in 1821. He was then sent to Grahamstown, where he was nominally attached to the Cape Regiment, but travelled extensively around the frontier. It was here that Smith began to record notes on his environment, and collect samples of what he saw. He also encouraged local tribesmen to bring him specimens, skins, and day-to-day objects they used. Lord Charles Somerset was most impressed by Smith, and in 1825 acceded to his request to set up a museum. In that year Smith moved to Cape Town and the South African Museum was established. Smith had been promoted within army structures, but spent all his time working at the Museum!