The Wild Sports of Southern Africa

As well as being an engineer and a famous hunter and traveller, with an almost unrivalled knowledge of natural history, Harris was a fine researcher, interviewer, writer, artist and map-maker and was responsible for the illustrations and maps in his books. He led a charmed, though short, life. He was a captain of engineers on the Bombay establishment of the Honourable East India Company when in 1836 he was medically boarded to the Cape. By July of that year he had fitted out the first of the several expeditions on which his three major and other minor published works were based. 

The Wild Sports was one of his major works, being published in various stages of completion from 1838 (Bombay; 1 illustration and 1 map) to 1839 (London; 8 illustrations) 1841, 1844 and 1852 (London, when extra chapters were added, the map was retained and the number of hand-coloured illustrations rose to 26).

359 pages, hand-coloured lithographic frontispiece, hand-coloured vignette title page, folding map and 24 hand-coloured lithographic plates.

Rebound in half-leather with marbled cloth, and new marbled endpapers. Back cover is coming loose but still attached. 2 ex-libris stickers inside. Foxing on endpapers but otherwise very good, clean copy. , London 1844, 4th ed.