ELLIS'S THREE VISITS TO MADAGASCAR

THREE VISITS TO MADAGASCAR DURING THE YEARS 1853-1854-1856, INCLUDING A JOURNEY TO THE CAPITAL. With notices of the natural history of the country and of the present civilization of the people.

xiv + 426pp + 6pp. Original Embossed Pictorial Cloth with gilt titled spine. No Date, 1885 (? ) ; Reprint of Original Edition, Preface Dated 1858 (Not Updated)Illustrated by woodcuts from photographs. No Map and Frontis as called for but most likely never bound-in as there is no evidence of such ever being detached. Research on other available copies of this particular publication all indicate the same.

Presentation note to prelim, dated 1889. Some Edgewear and scuffing to covers with light blistering to front cover cloth. Internally very good.

Ellis was sent to Madagascar three times to investigate whether Christians were being maltreated. That investigation was not productive, as he was denied access to the capital, but it was the first widely read account of the island, and a thorough description of the society, customs, religion and natural history.

In 1852 the affairs of Madagascar had reached such a crisis that Ellis (1794-1872), a missionary, was requested to visit the island, in order to ascertain and improve the condition of the christians. (DNB). He visited the Cape in 1854 on which he gives an interesting account of many places together with botanical notes and information respecting the natives.Grandidier 1633; Mendelssohn I, p.518; SAB II, p.185.