Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #114 begins on 11 Apr 2024

Sir Harry Johnston

The Nile Quest

A Record of the Exploration of the Nile and its Basin

Published: Alston Rivers, London, 1905

Edition: 1st

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A very good copy in the original pale green pictorial cloth gilt. Frontis and numerous black and white plates intact. Large folding map at rear of book intact. Contents clean and tight but scattered foxing throughout.  Page edges untrimmed. A nice copy.

By the mid-nineteenth century, Europeans had become obsessed with finding the source of the Nile. In 1857, Richard Burton and John Hannington Speke, who already disliked each other, set out from the east coast to find the much-rumored source of the White Nile. After several months of acrimonious travel, they discovered Lake Tanganyika, though reportedly it was their headman, a former slave known as Sidi Mubarak Bombay, who first spotted the lake (Bombay was essential to the success of the trip in many ways and went on to manage several European expeditions, becoming one of the many career headmen on whom explorers heavily relied.) As Burton was ill, and the two explorers were constantly locking horns, Speke proceeded north on his own, and there found Lake Victoria. Speke returned triumphantly, convinced he had found the source of the Nile, but Burton dismissed his claims, beginning one of the most divisive and public disputes of the age.

  • Binding Condition: Very good
  • Overall Condition: Very good
  • Size: 8 vo
  • Sold By: White Eagle Books
  • Contact Person: Andrew Saidi
  • Country: United Kingdom
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 020 8997 9894
  • Preferred Payment Methods: Paypal
  • Trade Associations: PBFA IOBA


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