Travels and Discoveries in North and Central Africa: Being a Journal of an Expedition Undertaken Under the Auspices of H.B.M.'S Government in the Years 1849-1855 Volumes I, II, and III of the set's five volumes
- Hardcover
- London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, 1857
London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longmans & Roberts, 1857. Hardcover. Very Good. Hardcover. Johann Heinrich Barth ( 1821 – 1865) was a German explorer and scholar of Africa. He is thought to be one of the
greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and write Arabic, learning African languages, and character meant that he carefully documented the details of the cultures he visited. He was among the first to comprehend the uses of oral history of peoples, and collected many. He established friendships with African rulers and scholars during his five years of travel (1850–1855). After the deaths of two European companions, he completed his travels with the aid of Africans. Afterwards, he wrote and published a five-volume account of his travels in both English and German. It has been invaluable for scholars of his time and since. [Wikipedia]
Despite ill health and the loss of his colleague companions, he traveled some 10,000 miles. His account of his years in Africa remain one of the most comprehensive works on the area and contain an immense amount of anthropological, historical, and linguistic information as well as the daily travel details he so assiduously recorded. [Britannica]
At the end of this title's fifth volume Barth wrote: "Thus closed my long and exhausting career as an African explorer, of which these volumes endeavour to incorporate the results. . . . I had embarked on this undertaking as a volunteer, under the most unfavourable circumstances for myself. . . .I resolved upon undertaking, with a very limited supply of means, a journey to the far west, in order to endeavour to reach Timbúktu, and to explore that part of the Niger which, through the untimely fate of Mungo Park, had remained unknown to the scientific world. In this enterprise I succeeded to my utmost expectation, and not only made known the whole of that vast region, which even to the Arab merchants in general had remained more unknown than any other part of Africa, but I succeeded also in establishing friendly relations with all the most powerful chiefs along the river up to that mysterious city itself. No doubt, even in the track which I myself pursued I have left a good deal for my successors in this career to improve upon; but I have the satisfaction to feel that I have opened to the view of the scientific public of Europe a most extensive tract of the secluded African world, and not only made it tolerably known, but rendered the opening of a regular intercourse between Europeans and those regions possible."
The illustrations for Barth's work were created by Johann Martin Bernatz (1802 - 1878). Bernatz: was the artist who translated Barth's onsite sketches into the finished illustrations for the published work. The published volumes contained colored plates, making the book a significant and valuable scientific work for historians of Africa. Bound in the original dark green cloth covers with titling in gilt to spines. There is some wear and signs of handling on all three volumes. Apparently an ex-library copy, with sign out slips partly torn away from the front pastedowns. Lightly cracked hinges and signatures but text blocks are firm. Except for a missing map in volume III at page 23, all other maps and all of the plates are present in each volume. Plates are protected by tissue guards that have offsetting from the images they protect. Text pages have browning along the edges and a bit of fraying. Despite noted flaws, still in very good condition. Volumes measure 9 x 5.75 inches. Volume I: 578 pages including appendix plus 24 page listing of new works; Volume II: 676 pages including appendix and a chart of fragments of a meteorological register; Volume III: 635 pages including appendix and chart of meteorological register. TRAVEL/091025.
greatest of the European explorers of Africa, as his scholarly preparation, ability to speak and write Arabic, learning African languages, and character meant that he carefully documented the details of the cultures he visited. He was among the first to comprehend the uses of oral history of peoples, and collected many. He established friendships with African rulers and scholars during his five years of travel (1850–1855). After the deaths of two European companions, he completed his travels with the aid of Africans. Afterwards, he wrote and published a five-volume account of his travels in both English and German. It has been invaluable for scholars of his time and since. [Wikipedia]
Despite ill health and the loss of his colleague companions, he traveled some 10,000 miles. His account of his years in Africa remain one of the most comprehensive works on the area and contain an immense amount of anthropological, historical, and linguistic information as well as the daily travel details he so assiduously recorded. [Britannica]
At the end of this title's fifth volume Barth wrote: "Thus closed my long and exhausting career as an African explorer, of which these volumes endeavour to incorporate the results. . . . I had embarked on this undertaking as a volunteer, under the most unfavourable circumstances for myself. . . .I resolved upon undertaking, with a very limited supply of means, a journey to the far west, in order to endeavour to reach Timbúktu, and to explore that part of the Niger which, through the untimely fate of Mungo Park, had remained unknown to the scientific world. In this enterprise I succeeded to my utmost expectation, and not only made known the whole of that vast region, which even to the Arab merchants in general had remained more unknown than any other part of Africa, but I succeeded also in establishing friendly relations with all the most powerful chiefs along the river up to that mysterious city itself. No doubt, even in the track which I myself pursued I have left a good deal for my successors in this career to improve upon; but I have the satisfaction to feel that I have opened to the view of the scientific public of Europe a most extensive tract of the secluded African world, and not only made it tolerably known, but rendered the opening of a regular intercourse between Europeans and those regions possible."
The illustrations for Barth's work were created by Johann Martin Bernatz (1802 - 1878). Bernatz: was the artist who translated Barth's onsite sketches into the finished illustrations for the published work. The published volumes contained colored plates, making the book a significant and valuable scientific work for historians of Africa. Bound in the original dark green cloth covers with titling in gilt to spines. There is some wear and signs of handling on all three volumes. Apparently an ex-library copy, with sign out slips partly torn away from the front pastedowns. Lightly cracked hinges and signatures but text blocks are firm. Except for a missing map in volume III at page 23, all other maps and all of the plates are present in each volume. Plates are protected by tissue guards that have offsetting from the images they protect. Text pages have browning along the edges and a bit of fraying. Despite noted flaws, still in very good condition. Volumes measure 9 x 5.75 inches. Volume I: 578 pages including appendix plus 24 page listing of new works; Volume II: 676 pages including appendix and a chart of fragments of a meteorological register; Volume III: 635 pages including appendix and chart of meteorological register. TRAVEL/091025.