Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile -
John Hanning Speke
1863 - William Blackwood and Sons, Edinburgh and London - First Edition
A good clean copy, becoming increasingly difficult to find, in the original gilt illustrated publisher’s cloth boards.
First edition, describing Speke’s 1859 expedition to explore Lake Victoria and investigate whether it was really the source of the Nile as claimed, their challenging and eventful journey through present-day Tanzania and Uganda, and the indigenous peoples they encountered.
Embellished with two steel-engraved portrait plates, including the frontispiece, 25 wood-engraved plates, and numerous other illustrations throughout, after sketches by Captain Grant. Together with two maps, including the large folding of Eastern Equatorial Africa [dated 1863. Size 44.5x57.5cm] in pocket to rear, which is often missing. 34 pages of publisher’s advertisements. John Hanning Speke was born on 4 May 1827 in Bideford in Devon. He was commissioned into the British army in 1844 and posted to India where he served in the Punjab and travelled in the Himalayas and Tibet. In April 1855, as part of Richard Burton's expedition to explore Somaliland, Speke was severely wounded in an attack by the Somalis. Invalided home, he volunteered for the Crimea and served during the war with a regiment of Turks.
In December 1856, Speke accepted an invitation from Burton to join an expedition to search for the reported great lakes in east central Africa. During the return trip, Speke left Burton, who was unwell, and struck out northward alone. In July he found a great lake which he named in honour of Queen Victoria.
Speke's theory that the lake was the source of Nile was rejected by Burton - beginning a bitter public dispute between the two men. However, the Royal Geographical Society, which had sponsored the expedition, honoured Speke for his exploits and commissioned a second expedition in 1860 to resolve the dispute. Speke and Captain James Grant mapped a portion of Lake Victoria. In July 1862, Speke, unaccompanied by Grant, found the Nile's exit from the lake and named it Ripon Falls. The party then tried to follow the river's course, but an outbreak of tribal warfare required them to change their route.
On his return to England, Speke was greeted with enthusiasm and published Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. Yet Burton and others remained unconvinced. On 15 September 1864, shortly before Speke and Burton were to debate the subject publicly, Speke was killed by his own gun while hunting. It remains uncertain whether it was an accident or suicide. [BBC]
Provenance: Contemporary owner’s signature dated 1864 to title page.
Thick octavo (book size 23x16cm), pp. xxxi [1] 658 [34 (publisher’s ads)] . In publisher’s burgundy cloth, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, gilt illustration to upper boards, later black endpapers. Condition: Near fine, light offsetting to frontis and title page in very good cloth, recent endpapers, some rubbing to edges and corners, more so to rear panel. Ref: 111882 Price: HK$ 12,000
First edition, describing Speke’s 1859 expedition to explore Lake Victoria and investigate whether it was really the source of the Nile as claimed, their challenging and eventful journey through present-day Tanzania and Uganda, and the indigenous peoples they encountered.
Embellished with two steel-engraved portrait plates, including the frontispiece, 25 wood-engraved plates, and numerous other illustrations throughout, after sketches by Captain Grant. Together with two maps, including the large folding of Eastern Equatorial Africa [dated 1863. Size 44.5x57.5cm] in pocket to rear, which is often missing. 34 pages of publisher’s advertisements. John Hanning Speke was born on 4 May 1827 in Bideford in Devon. He was commissioned into the British army in 1844 and posted to India where he served in the Punjab and travelled in the Himalayas and Tibet. In April 1855, as part of Richard Burton's expedition to explore Somaliland, Speke was severely wounded in an attack by the Somalis. Invalided home, he volunteered for the Crimea and served during the war with a regiment of Turks.
In December 1856, Speke accepted an invitation from Burton to join an expedition to search for the reported great lakes in east central Africa. During the return trip, Speke left Burton, who was unwell, and struck out northward alone. In July he found a great lake which he named in honour of Queen Victoria.
Speke's theory that the lake was the source of Nile was rejected by Burton - beginning a bitter public dispute between the two men. However, the Royal Geographical Society, which had sponsored the expedition, honoured Speke for his exploits and commissioned a second expedition in 1860 to resolve the dispute. Speke and Captain James Grant mapped a portion of Lake Victoria. In July 1862, Speke, unaccompanied by Grant, found the Nile's exit from the lake and named it Ripon Falls. The party then tried to follow the river's course, but an outbreak of tribal warfare required them to change their route.
On his return to England, Speke was greeted with enthusiasm and published Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. Yet Burton and others remained unconvinced. On 15 September 1864, shortly before Speke and Burton were to debate the subject publicly, Speke was killed by his own gun while hunting. It remains uncertain whether it was an accident or suicide. [BBC]
Provenance: Contemporary owner’s signature dated 1864 to title page.
Thick octavo (book size 23x16cm), pp. xxxi [1] 658 [34 (publisher’s ads)] . In publisher’s burgundy cloth, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, gilt illustration to upper boards, later black endpapers. Condition: Near fine, light offsetting to frontis and title page in very good cloth, recent endpapers, some rubbing to edges and corners, more so to rear panel. Ref: 111882 Price: HK$ 12,000