Du Chaillu, Paul

Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa; with Accounts of the Manners and Customs of the People, and of the Chase of the Gorilla, the Crocodile, Leopard, Elephant, Hippopotamus, and Other Animals

Hardcover, London: John Murray, 1861. Second Edition. Very Good+. Second Edition. Bound in contemporary half leather with marbled paper covered boards, marbled endpapers, and marbled page edges. Large Octavo, pp xxii, 479, large fold-out frontispiece of a gorilla, 27 black and white plates, 46 illustrations in the text including the title page, large fold-out map, and appendix. No publisher's ads. Beautiful 19th century binding is bright. Relatively minor wear to all corners. Some age spotting to endpapers, text and all illustrations all clean and bright. Closed tear to map, small previous bookseller label to rear pastedown. Two previous owner bookplates to front pastedown and front endpaper. An important book with entries in Howgego, Troelstra, and Czech. Paul Du Chaillu (1835-1903) was a Franco-American explorer. This book, his first, is about his 3 years of travel in Gabon, 1856-1859. When he returned to New York, he had a large collection of native arms and implements as well as many specimens of natural history, which were mostly purchased by the British Musem. More than 300 species of birds were identified from his specimens. Perhaps most importantly, Du Chaillu also brought back the skins of several gorillas, an animal known to western scientists only by skeletons. Du Chaillu's stories of adventure and proof of gorillas' existence set off a furor in the scientific community with many scientists wondering if the gorilla was Darwin's missing link and if Du Chaillu's stories of adventure were lies. Du Chaillu met and befriended Richard Burton who later attempted to find live gorillas himself and failed. Burton believed many of the stories in this book were not actually Du Chaillu's own experiences, but re-tellings of stories African villagers had told Du Chaillu. Czech notes the book contains hunts after elephant, buffalo, and hippo. It also contains stories of hunting gorilla. Ships same or next business day well protected in a box. Oversize book - US Domestic Media Mail only - expedited/priority and international orders may require extra charges in addition to the shipping charges quoted by this website. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 479 pages. [Item #82548]

Price: $525.00