Voyage aux sources du Nil, en Nubie et en Abyssinie

New edition published in the same year as the original at the Hôtel de Thou (in-4 and in-8), in 14 volumes. This 14th volume is often lacking, it is a supplement containing the 4 voyages of Lieutenant Paterson in the country of the Hottentots and in Caffraria. The 13th volume is entirely devoted to natural history. Translation by Castéra. Without the in-4 atlas which was sold separately and in addition.
Contemporary full blonde sheep bindings with marbled pattern. Smooth spines very richly decorated with 2 compartments with multiple random thick and thin chevrons, one compartment with central fleuron framed by palmettes, with head and tail rolls. Dentelle border on the boards. Blue speckled edges. Missing head fragments to volumes 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 14; headcaps worn on volumes 7 and 12. Tail cap of volume 4 partially missing. Light traces of rubbing. Scattered pale foxing.
Very handsome set.
The expedition of James Bruce, a Scotsman, had an avowed purpose, to discover the sources of the Nile. After landing in Alexandria, he traveled through all of Ethiopia, and in the deserts of Egypt. It was near Khartoum that he located the sources of the Blue Nile. James Bruce can be considered one of the very first scientific explorers on earth: it is indeed with great rigor that he amassed precise knowledge on geography, fauna and flora, meteorology... Moreover The Voyage to the Sources of the Nile is certainly one of the best travel narratives on Africa. The first volumes are devoted to customs, commerce, institutions; the 13th and final volume deals with natural history.