Baker, Samuel

Ismailia: a Narrative of the Expedition to Central Africa for the Suppression of the Slave Trade

Hardcover, New York: Harper & Brothers, 1875. First American Edition. Very Good-. Octavo, pp 542. Portrait of Sir Samuel Baker, 50 full page illustrations, 1 full page color map, 1 fold-out color map. Bound in publisher's original brown cloth covered boards with gilt spine titles and cover decorations. The large fold-out map has two large tears. Spine faded, covers worn and faded, hinge cracked, but binding sound.

In 1869 Sir Samuel Baker was approached by Khedive Ismail of Egypt to lead a military force to annex the upper Nile (Sudan) for Egypt and to suppress the slave trade. Khedive Ismail sealed Baker's interest by paying him 40,000GBP.

This book is Baker's narrative of that military expedition that lasted a total of four years including the planning.

Baker was a famous explorer and big-game hunter and this book contains numerous hunting adventures as well as the military exploits. Baker describes hunts after crocodile, hippo, elephant, lion, rhino, and antelope. Baker was exceptionally brave and hardy, but perhaps not quite fully sane as he also describes hunting elephant using his force's military artillery (rockets and field piece) and hunting rhino using nets (the enraged rhino simply ran right through the nets as if they were cobwebs). ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 542 pages. [Item #82582]

Price: $100.00