Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772.

JAMES, Bruce.

$3,200.00

Item Number: 4427

Edinburgh: G.G. J. and J. Robinson, 1790.

First edition of this classic work. Quarto, 5 volumes, bound in half leather, all edges gilt. With 58 engraved plates and 3 folding maps. In near fine condition.

Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, In the Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 is the account by the Scottish traveller James Bruce of his journeys in the Horn of Africa, which includes an eye-witness account of Ethiopian history and culture, as well as a description of that country and the neighboring kingdom of Sennar and the Ottoman province of Habesh. "One of the most splendid narratives in the literature of African travel" (Hallet Africa to 1875). Bruce’s account is also notable for its plate of the figure of a harpist in the tomb of Ramses III, "the first picture of a scene in the royal tombs to be published it caught the imagination of many" (Romer, 36).