TRAVELS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA [2 VOLUMES] (1847)

Scarce first edition 2 volumes set of "Travels in Southern Africa, notably in the territory of Natal, in that of the Amazoulous and Makatisses Cafres and up to the Tropic of Capricorn, carried out during the years 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843 & 1844" by Adulphe Delegorgue. The first volume describes his brief jouneyings in the Cape Colony and the early part of his several years of hunting and specimen-collecting in Natal and Zululand; The second volume relates the latter part of his adventures in Natal and Zululand, and the extension of his odyssey of observations and despoliation beyond the Drakensberg into the 'land of Massilicatsi'. Louis Adulphe Delegorgue (1814-1850) devoted himself mainly to elephant hunting and was even nicknamed "the elephant killer".

This original edition contains an introduction by M. Albert-Montemont, Vocabulary of the Zulu language, Catalogue of insects, coleoptera, diptera, ornithology; with a portrait of the author on the frontispiece by Cattier, 8 lithographs by F. Robaut and Cattier (natural history, hunting, views) and 2 folding maps (Map from Volume 1: "Map for the intelligence of travel"; Map from Volume 2: "Hunting map indicating the places where the various species of animals live on the Greenwich meridian").

"First edition of this work which constitutes one of the 'first great hunting trips in Africa'." (Thiébaud 258-259g)

"An important work on Natal and Zululand in the middle of the nineteenth century." (Mendelssohn)

"The author arrived at the Cape in 1838 and, having travelled around the Colony, went to Natal where he witnessed the wars of the emigrant Boers with Dingaan." (Mendelssohn I, p441.)

Gay, 3015; Chadenat, 1086.

"Voyage dans l'Afrique australe, notamment dans le territoire de Natal, dans celui des Cafres Amazoulous et Makatisses et jusqu'au Tropique du Capricorne. Durant les annees 1838, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843 & 1844. Avec Desins et Cartes."; 2 volumes; Original Havana Morocco quarter leather binding. Gilt title to the spine. Spine decorated with gilt dots and 4 horizontal bands of Morocco of different tones; Text in French; Collation complete - Vol.1: Half-title, Frontispiece, Title page, [XVI], 580 pages, with 4 lithographed plates and 1 folding map; Vol.2: Half-title, Title page, 622 pages, [2], with 4 lithographed plates and 1 folding map; Binding is tight and firm, overall well preserved, with minor shelf wear, lower corners little bumped, minor discoloration. Text block/pages very bright and clear, with occasional very light foxing out of the text. Traces of browning to the rear of map from Volume 1. A sound copy.

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