Descrizione

2 volumes. First "Cheaper" Edition, the third overall. A copy with very pleasing provenance. This, owned by Colonel Charles Henry Dudley Ryder. With 25 wood engraved plates, many other woodcut illustrations throughout engraved by J. D. Cooper and a large folding map. 8vo, publisher’s original pebbled brick-red cloth lettered in gilt on spines, spines and upper covers pictorially decorated in black and gilt. xiii, 298, [1 table]; viii, 308. A very attractive set, the bindings in excellent order with no fading to the spines or lettering, hinges intact and sturdy.

Edizione: scarce set with fine provenance, of this early english printing. dr. schweinfurth traveled through central africa as a botanist and did much to increase our knowledge of that area. his book however, is a broad exploration of the region. the people, the customs, the land and of course the natural world were explored during his three year journey.<br> sampson low and company, printed this edition to be uniform with several other works on african travel, including works by henry stanley, joseph thomson and r.p. ashe. the series contained the maps and illustrations of the original editions in a more affordable format. the lower cost did not however mean the end of decorated bindings.<br> this copy has quite pleasing provenance. colonel charles henry dudley ryder, cb, cie, dso (1868 - 1945) was an english army officer and explorer. an officer of the royal engineers, british army, he served as surveyor general of india from 1919 to 1924. during his career, he undertook a number of surveys; including in china's yunnan province, tibet and the himalayas, the north-west frontier province, the turco-persian border, in mesopotamia, and throughout india. odnb<br> in 1905, he was awarded the patron's medal by the royal geographical society "for his survey of yunnan and his work in connection with the tibet mission". that same year, he was awarded the distinguished service order (dso) "in recognition of the services [.] with the tibet mission escort". in the 1915 king's birthday honours, ryder was appointed a companion of the order of the indian empire (cie) following his time in charge of the "turco-persian frontier commission, survey detachment". in the 1922 king's birthday honours, he was appointed a companion of the order of the bath