Congo Français, Corisco and Cameroons.
London, MacMillan, 1897
Inscribed presentation copy. Inscribed on title: A.G. Fowler Esq. / with kindest remembrances / From Mary Kingsley.
'Arguably the best-known of all books by Victorian and Edwardian women travellers' (Theakstone).
Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) made the first ascent of Mount Cameroon via the north-east face. This book was an instant success due to its serious scientific content and ... exuberant raciness (Robinson p.138).
Kingsley travelled in the forests of Africa much as she would have done at home. 'She set off through the forest guided by reputed cannibals. She escaped a fall into a game pit , landing in a heap on a lot of spikes at its bottom. It was at those times, she wrote, that one realised the blessings of a good thick skirt' (Theakstone).
First edition; 8vo, inscribed presentation copy, xvi, 743 pp., 8 pages ads at end, frontispiece, 2 lithographed plates, 15 full-page photographic plates, illustrations in text, original red cloth gilt, lightly rubbed, slight fade to spine, a very good copy.
'Arguably the best-known of all books by Victorian and Edwardian women travellers' (Theakstone).
Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) made the first ascent of Mount Cameroon via the north-east face. This book was an instant success due to its serious scientific content and ... exuberant raciness (Robinson p.138).
Kingsley travelled in the forests of Africa much as she would have done at home. 'She set off through the forest guided by reputed cannibals. She escaped a fall into a game pit , landing in a heap on a lot of spikes at its bottom. It was at those times, she wrote, that one realised the blessings of a good thick skirt' (Theakstone).
First edition; 8vo, inscribed presentation copy, xvi, 743 pp., 8 pages ads at end, frontispiece, 2 lithographed plates, 15 full-page photographic plates, illustrations in text, original red cloth gilt, lightly rubbed, slight fade to spine, a very good copy.
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