Voyage dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique fait en 1795, 1796 et 1797, par M. Mungo Park

First edition illustrated with a frontispiece portrait, 2 botanical plates, 3 views and 3 folding maps.
Contemporary half brown sheep bindings. Jansenist spines. Red morocco title labels, green morocco volume labels. One tear at foot of volume 2. One wormhole at head of volume 1, another at head of volume 2. Corners slightly bumped. One signature protruding in volume 2. A yellow stain on the half-title, title and frontispiece, centrally placed. The 4 preliminary leaves of volume I have a fold.
Trained as a surgeon and passionate about travel, Mungo Park volunteered with the African Society of London to find the sources of the Niger, one of Africa's principal geographical enigmas. He would thus become the first Westerner to explore the Niger River. At that time, only what Pliny and Leo Africanus had written about this region was known. Mungo Park departed in 1795 for Gambia, ascending the river to the trading post of Pisania, learning the local dialect. He crossed the Senegal riverbed, visited Moullé, Bondou, Kaarta. Arrested by the Moors, he was imprisoned for four months then managed to escape through the desert, subsequently ascending the river for about a hundred kilometers. Six months later he reached London where he published the account of his journey.
Bookplate: Bibliothèque de Pierre Fournier. Taverny.