Discovery of Lakes Rudolf and Stefanie - A Narrative of Count Samuel Teleki's Exploring & Hunting Expedition in Eastern Equatorial Africa in 1887 & 1888 with 179 original illustrations and 5 coloured maps. Translated by Nancy Bell (N. D'Anvers)

London: Longmans, 1894. First Edition. Hard Cover. (London: Longmans Green & Co 1894). First UK Edition in 2 Volumes. 8vo, pp. xx, 435; xii, 397, [1]; with a large coloured folding map at end of each volume, numerous illustrations and maps in the text (some full-page). First published in German in 1892. Publisher's original brown cloth spines lettered in gilt, gilt vignettes of a gazelle to the spine, and of African tribesman to the top board of each volume; black endpapers (which are original). Each volume has the bookseller's ticket of Rowland Ward & Co Limited to the top left hand corner of the front paste-down. James Rowland Ward (1848–1912) was a British taxidermist and founder of the firm Rowland Ward & Co. Limited of 166 Piccadilly, London. The company specialised in and was renowned for its taxidermy work on birds and big-game trophies. Rowland Ward was also a well-known publisher of natural history books and big-game hunting narratives. Both volumes are inscribed by Rowland Ward to Charles Henry Sanford (an Anglo-American millionaire) whose book-plate adorns the front paste-down of each volume. The books are inscribed as follows: "To C. Sanford Esq:/ with Rowland Ward's/ Kind regards/ 1897". Interestingly, the book-plate of Charles Henry Ward was designed by Herbert Ward (1863-1919) who was a British sculptor, illustrator, writer, and explorer in Africa. He was a member of Henry Morton Stanley's Emin Pasha Relief Expedition and became a close friend of Roger Casement while they were working in the Congo. This is a very good (or slightly better) set with both the cloth bright and clean and the gilt un-tarnished. There is the usual light foxing throughout (a common fault with this book). The spine tips are a trifle softened. The black end-papers of each volume have a few short strips of tape residue (likely caused by the removal of a letter or perhaps a newspaper article put in by a previous owner). "An excellent work of exploration and sport, this scarce set represents African adventure at its finest. Departing from Zanzibar the expedition hunted buffalo, rhinoceros, and a variety of plains animals in the neighbourhood of Mount Kilimanjaro. There was also considerable elephant hunting near Mount Nyiro, with additional elephant hunting near Lake Stephanie." - Czech. Czech p78. Widely considered to be one of the great set of books on hunting and exploration of East Africa. Scarce with these attributes. Please note that due to the weight of these books shipping on this set may be a little more than that quoted by ABE (particularly for orders emanating from overseas). Photographs/scans available upon request.