Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa.

Capetown: C. Struik, 1967. Facsimile reprint in two volumes, 582 + 648 pages, frontispiece portrait, two large folding colour maps (identical) loosely inserted, 20 colour plates - 5 folding, many text illustrations, brown cloth, scuffed, foxed, and a little shaken, but overall a good set.

Facsimile reprint, number 408 of an edition limited to 1000 copies.

First published in 1822 (Vol.1) and 1824 (Vol.2) respectively, Mendelssohn describes Burchell’s account as ‘The most valuable and accurate work on South Africa published up to the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and embracing a description of a large part of the Cape Colony and Bechuanaland at this period. Theal ("History of South Africa, 1795-1834") remarks that the author was "a man of talent, an easy writer, and scrupulously exact in his descriptions," and according to Sclater he was "a most skilful and well-trained zoologist and botanist, and his observations are all accurate and methodical."’ (Mendelssohn, p.224). Mendelssohn was particularly impressed with Burchell’s powers of description and described his writing as “equal of the best in this style of writing: not even Ruskin could have improved on many of his passages.” (vol 1, p.lii).