Exploration

New York: American Geographical Society. Very Good. 1922. Hard Cover. American Geographical Society research series, no. 8. viii,196 pages, maps and diagrams, cloth, very good. Several chapters are reprinted, with modifications, from the Geographical review. Includes Greenland, Brazil, Corvo, Antilla, Atlantis, the Seven Cities, Mavda, Markland, Estotiland, St. Brendan's Explorations and Islands; and The Sunken Land of Buss. . more information

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London: Hakluyt Society. Very Good. 1927. Hard Cover. 'Discovered in 1913 by John Humphreys, M.A., F.S.A. and now in the possession of Lieut.-Colonel Henry Howard, F.S.A. Edited by Sir Richard Carnac Temple, bt. Second Series: No. 58. 398 pages, 7 plates, 6 maps (1 folding), 1 folding plan, 1 folding diagram, cloth, very good. Contents: Diary of a six weeks' tour in 1698 in Holland and Flanders.--The story of the Mary Galley, 1704-1710. From the preface: The romance of the discovery of the Papers, of which two sections now published form but a small fraction, is told in the Introduction. These two sections are the story of Bowrey's trip to the Netherlands in 1698 in his yacht the Duck and the history of the Mary Galley, 1704-1710, an East Indiaman belonging chiefly to him. They are illustrated and supplemented by information from contemporary works and whenever possible from unpublished MSS. . more information

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New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Good. 1901. Hardcover. Xii, 365 pages, plates, maps, rebound by library, ex-library with usual library markings otherwise very good. SR3790; Ex-Library; 365 pages . more information

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National Geographic Society,. 1987. Hard Cover. 0810913763 . Edited by Edith M. Pavese. Art Director: Samuel N. Antupit. 484 pages, well illustrated (mostly in color), cloth, dj, very good. 9-1/2 by 12 inches. . more information

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Rockland, Maine,: Rockland Publishing Company. Good. circa 1893. Hard Cover. 71 pages, cloth, ex-library with usual library markings otherwise very good. The expedition to the Hamilton River Basin of Labrador took place in 1891; a letter dated October 1893 is printed on p. 66-71. The expedition explored parts of the Hamilton River, the Northwest River and the Atlantic Coast. Narrative begins with: "On board the Julia A Decker, Port Hawkesbury, Gut of Canso, July 6th, 1891. Here the staunch Julia lies at anchor waiting for a change in the wind and a break in the fog. Today will be memorable in the annals of the Micmac Indians, for Prof. Lee has spent his enforced leisure in putting in anthropometric work among them, inducing braves, squaws and papooses of both sexes to mount the trunk that served as a measuring block and go through the ordeal of having their height, standing and sitting, stretch of arms, various diameters of head and peculiarities of the physiognomy taken down. While he was with two assistances was thus employed, two of our photographic corps were busily engaged in preserving as many of their odd faces and costumes as possible." ; 71 pages . more information

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New York: Allerton Book Co.. Very Good. 1922. Hard Cover. "as related by his faithful lieutenant, Henri de Tonty, his missionary colleagues, Fathers Zenobius Membré, Louis Hennepin and Anastasius Douay, his early biographer, Father Christian LeClercq, his trusted subordinate, Henri Joutel, and his brother, Jean Cavelier; together with memoirs, commissions, etc." Vol. I: xxx,298 pages, frontispiece (portrait), cloth, very good. Vol. II vi,259 pages, cloth, very good. On the French explorer in North America who claimed Louisiana for France (1682). Chapter 1 of Volume II: Joutel's Historical Journal of Monsieur de La Salle's last voyage to discover the river Mississippi [from France to the coast of Texas]. . more information

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Salem,: Marine Research Society. Very Good. 1924. Hard Cover. 335 pages, plates, map endpapers, cloth, very good. From the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition: Edmund Fanning, 1769-1841, American trader, explorer, and promoter of trade and exploration in the South Seas, b. Stonington, Conn. At the age of 14 he went to sea. In command of a trading vessel, he realized a large profit from an expedition in 1797-98. In the course of the voyage he traded a cargo of trinkets for seal skins in the islands off the coast of Chile and exchanged them for valuable Chinese goods at Guangzhou, returning around the Cape of Good Hope. During the expedition he discovered Fanning Island, Washington Island, and other islands. Convinced of the profits to be made from trade in the South Seas, he became the agent for a group of New York City merchants, supervising over 70 expeditions and participating in some of them. His Voyages around the World (1833), which shed light on some of the little-known parts of the globe, passed through several editions. . more information

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New York: Viking Press. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1982. Hardcover. 0670439975 . Xvi, 244 pages, well illustrated, map endpapers, cloth, DJ, very good. From the Wikipedia website: "The Harriman Alaska Expedition was an expedition organized by E. H. Harriman, a railway magnate and financier, to explore the coastal waters and territory of Alaska in 1899. During this expedition, from May 31 until July 30, over 5,000 photographs were taken to document its progress and findings. A great deal of scientific information was published as a result of the trip. For example, College Fjord was discovered during the expedition. Harriman chartered a luxury ship, the George W. Elder, for a scientific vacation to Alaska. For the purpose of studying flora and fauna of Alaska, Harriman invited prominent scientists of the period to accompany him, including John Burroughs, John Muir, George Bird Grinnell, Clinton Hart Merriam, G. K. Gilbert, Edward S. Curtis, William Healey Dall, and William Emerson Ritter. " CH552A ; 244 pages . more information

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Washington,: National Geographic Society,. 1981. Hard Cover. Photographed by Gordon W. Gahan. 216 pages, well illustrated in color, cloth, dj, very good. . more information

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London: Seeley Service & Co.. Very Good. 1923. First Edition. Hard Cover. 321 pages, 18 plates, 7 maps (1 folding), cloth, covers sun-faded but lettering on spine quite evident. The folding map in the rear has been neatly detached but is in excellent condition. Binding is tight, text is clean. Former owners name inside front cover. 1st edition. An account of expedition in 1922 in the area of Minya Konka (Gongga Shan), on the western border of China and Eastern Tibet (Sichuan province, central China, in the Daxue Mountains). From the website of The Geological Society of London: ;John Walter Gregory (1864-1932) was an intrepid Scottish explorer, stratigrapher, invertebrate palaeontologist and geomorphologist who undertook a number of adventures to India, Spitzbergen, Australia and Africa and the Himalayas. He was the first professor at the University of Melbourne, where he travelled to the "Dead Heart" (his term) of the continent. From Glasgow University he mounted expeditions to Libya, Angola, India and the East African Rift Valley, as well as Chinese Tibet. He wrote over 300 papers on a bewilderingly wide variety of geological topics.' . more information

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London: Hakluyt Society. Very Good. 1928. Hard Cover. Works issued by the Hakluyt Society ; Second Series, Number 60. Edited with introduction & notes by Sir C. Alexander Harris. 191 pages, 1 plate, 3 folding maps, cloth, very good. From the preface: The text now reproduced is that of the first edition of the Relation, as nearly as possible in its original form, the basis being a photograph of the copy in the British Museum. Subsequently it seemed desirable to record in this volume the additions made by Harcourt in the second edition of the book and after consultation with Mr. Heawood, App. I was added. . more information

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London: John Murray,. Very Good. 1933. First Edition. Hard Cover. Xviii,324, [2 advertising] pages, 48 plates and maps (3 folding), 1 large folding map in rear pocket, cloth, ex-library with usual library markings otherwise very good. 1st edition. Abel Janszoon Tasman, James Cook, William Bligh, James Wilson, and Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen. From the preface: Since the beginning of the year 1927 I have paid four visits to Fiji, and on each occasion have followed in the tracks of one or more of the discoverers, checking and testing the evidence supplied in their journals, log-books, and charts, and devoting special attention to any place or area concerning which my preliminary studies had left me in a state of uncertainty or perplexity. This has been the most profitable as well as the most exacting part of the research on which I have been engaged for the last seven years. In all these voyages I have had the assistance of commanders and navigators of British and Colonial ships who, with their special training and up-to-date instruments, were able to take observations, and supply me with information whereby the accuracy or otherwise of statements in the log-books and charts of the old navigators could be tested. I am hopeful that, as a result of these advantages in addition to my academic researches, it will be found that the information given in this book is reliable; and also that my wholehearted appreciation of the character and work of every one of the discoverers, founded as it is upon vital knowledge of the difficulties and dangers which they encountered, is just. . more information

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New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Good in Good dust jacket. 1973. Hardcover. 0399112154 . Xvi, 427 pages, 8 plates, text illustrations, maps, cloth, DJ, ex-library with usual library markings otherwise very good. 1st American edition. From the dust jacket: "Hailed by the Victorians as an explorer unrivaled since the Elizabethans, Livingstone was also revered as a near saint, epitomizing every moral virtue - a myth in his own lifetime. Published to coincide with the centenary of Livingstone's death in 1873, Tim Jeal's comprehensive biography shows this myth to have been a bizarre distortion, and in doing so reveals Livingstone as a complex and paradoxical figure: a man capable of self-sacrifice and ruthless cruelty, dogged throughout his life by self-doubts, contradictions and failure. . . This book presents a new argument: that it was Livingstone's ideals and influence which, years after his death, played a major part inn establishing British imperial power in Africa. " SR3977; Ex-Library; 427 pages . more information

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New York: Walker & Company. Very Good in Very Good dust jacket. 1994. Hardcover. 0802713203 . 220 pages, illustrations, diagrams, maps, cloth, DJ, very good. From Publishers Weekly: "Until the invention of modern navigational instruments (most notably the chronometer, in the 1730s, which enabled sailors to mark longitude) , geographic calculations drew upon legends and unverifiable reports from ancient mariners who, sailing only by latitude and the stars, could not pinpoint precisely where they had been. Early cartographers filled their maps with the satanic beasts and horrific (or idyllic) landscapes the sailors described. As navigation became more scientific, these "lands that never were" disappeared from the maps. After presenting ancient and medieval geographical theories, Johnson, a sailor who has crossed the Atlantic five times in a 27-foot schooner, tells seven of these island tales. The Isle of Demons off Newfoundland was reputedly inhabited by bears, walruses and a variety of mythological animals. St. Brendan, a sixth-century Irish monk, was said to have discovered the islands that came to bear his name on a seven-year voyage that may have been a religious fantasy. The fifth century's Saint Ursula, legend has it, left Britain for Rome by boat, accompanied by 11,000 virgins. Johnson also tells of the tantalizing searches for Frisland, Buss Island, the Isle of Seven Cities and Hy-Brazil, a foggy green isle off the west coast of Ireland that was eyed as a midway station for trade to the Orient. This admirably researched and well-written account, with numerous maps and illustrations, vividly illustrates how interesting the often overlooked science of geography can be. BOMC and QPB selections. " ; 220 pages . more information

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New York: Longmans, Green & Co. ,. Good. 1913. Hard Cover. "With two maps and twenty-three illustrations by Arthur Shephard from the author's sketches." [4],328 pages, 20 plates, maps, cloth, rebound ex-library with usual library markings otherwise very good. Ninth impression. In August 1889 English barrister and writer E. F. Knight left England in his cutter Alerte bound for the uninhabited island of Trinidad off the coast of Brazil. He was on a hunt for pirate treasure. 'There was an immense treasure buried, consisting principally of gold and silver plate, the plunder of Peruvian churches which certain pirates had concealed there in the year 1821. … He further stated that he was the only survivor of the pirates, as all the others had been captured by the Spaniards and executed in Cuba some years before…' . more information

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Philadelphia: Blanchard and Lea. Very Good. 1856. Hard Cover. xx,13-519 pages, 28 plates, 2 folding maps, cloth, light shelf wear otherwise very good. Both maps have a few tears but are otherwise in excellent condition. Ninth edition, revised. From the preface: 'The object of the expedition, the narrative of which is here presented, was unknown to the public, until a very short time prior to its departure from the United States, when the indications were such as to induce me to to apprehend that it was not appreciated. Nevertheless, I had an abiding faith in the ultimate issue, which cheered me on, for I felt that a liberal and enlightened community would not long condemn an attempt to explore a distant river, and its wondrous reservoir, - the first, teeming with sacred associations, and the last, enveloped in a mystery, which had defied all previous attempts to penetrate it.' . more information

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London: Oxford,. Very Good. 1933. Soft Cover. [6 advertising], iv, 168 pages, 23 plates (1 folding), 5 maps (1 folding, 1 text), pictorial wrappers, very good. Contents include: Chitral memories (lt.-Col. B.E.M. Gurdon), Nanda Devi (Hugh Ruttledge), Scientific exploration of the Eastern Karakoram and Zanskar-Himalaya (Hellmut de Terra), The Passanram and Talung Valleys, Simmim (Dr. Eugen Allwein), The attack on Nanga Parbat, 1932 (Willy Merkl), Kulu (A.P.F. Hamilton), Through Kulu-Saraj (R. Maclagan Gorrie, A prophet of old (Capt. G.C. Clark), An attempt on Chomiomo (G.A.R. Spence), The Chong Kumdan Glacier, 1932 (Lt.-Col. Kenneth Mason), In Memoriam - Charles Felix Stoehr, Donald McKay Burn, H.H. Maharaja Sir Bhim Shamsher Jung Bahadur Rana, Notes - The Fourth Mount Everest Expedition, 1933, Royal Air Force flight from Risalpur to Gilgit, 1932; Mount Everest Flight, 1933; Khara-Khoto, Marco Polo's City of Etsina,; Infra-red photography in the Himalaya; The Hunza Valley glaciers, 1932; The Yale University expedition to the Himalaya, The accuracy of Himalayan maps, shooting-grounds on the Spiti border, Short notes on some 'Ammon Blocks' in Ladakh, The Kohala bridge, The Chong Kumdan Glacier, 1932. From Vol. 23 No 2 issue of Mountain Research and Development: "Founded by a group of British officers, mountaineers, and naturalists in 1928, the Himalayan Club was a noted institution in British India that has lasted to this day. In 1927, Sir Geoffrey Corbett, a member of the Indian Civil Service, wrote a letter to 3 British officials with an interest in the Himalayas: Major Kenneth Mason of the Survey of India, Major General Walter Kirke (then acting as Chief of the General Staff), and Brigadier E. A. Tandy, Surveyor General of India. Corbett suggested founding a Himalayan Club, and the others supported the idea. Corbett then went ahead and contacted other leading officials, including the Viceroy, the Commander-in-Chief in India, and the Governor of the Punjab. Meanwhile, Mason contacted Major E. O. Wheeler of the Survey of India and Captain J. G. Bruce of the Gurkhas. These men were the founding members of the Himalayan Club, as Corbett himself narrated the story (Himalayan Journal [HJ], Vol 1, 1929). The Himalayan Club was based on the model of the Alpine Club (founded in 1857 in London). Its purpose was "To encourage and assist Himalayan travel and exploration, and to extend knowledge of the Himalaya and adjoining mountain ranges through science, art, literature and sport." The Club was officially inaugurated at a meeting at Army headquarters in Delhi on 17 February 1928. A year later, the Himalayan Club incorporated the Mountain Club of India, which had been formed in Calcutta in 1927-the year Corbett was preparing to found the Himalayan Club without knowing about the Calcutta venture. One of the main activities of the Himalayan Club has been the annual publication of the HJ since 1929. Kenneth Mason was its founding editor, serving from 1928 to 1940 (Vols 1-12)." . more information

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Calcutta: Thacker, Spink & Co.. Very Good. 1931. Soft Cover. [1 advertising], iv, 172, [4 advertising] pages, 11 plates, 5 folding maps, pictorial wrappers, very good. Contents include: The passing of Mummery (Brig. Gen. C.G. Bruce), The Netherlands-Karakoram expedition, 1929 (Jenny Visser-Hooft), A journey from Yarkand to the Kara-Tash (F. Williamson), Noteso n the westernmost plateaux of Tibet (Dr. Emil Trinkler), Ibex ground near the Slachen glacier (Lt. Col. O.L. Ruck), Skiing in Kashmir (M.D.N. Wyatt), A frontier tour (Lt. Col. J.R.C. Gannon), The international Himalayan expedition, 1930 (Professor G.O. Dyhrenfurth), The Thui and Shandur passes (Lt. G.C. Clark), The Dharmsala Dhauladhar in 1930 (Lt. P.R. Oliver), Expeditions - Mr. F. Ludlow in the Tien Shan, 1930; The Italian expedition to the Karaloram, 1929; The Netherlands-Karakoram expedition, 1930; Professor Dainelli's Karakoram expedition, 1930; Tours in the Gilgit Agency, 1930; In Memoriam - Chettan. Captain F. Ashcroft, G.E.R. Cooper, Lt. I.M. Cadell, Notes - Royal Geographical Society Awards; Kamet; Gaurisankar-Everest; Secular movement of glaciers; International Glacier Commission; Variation of Siachen Glacier Snout; Indus landslide, Travel in Kashmir. From Vol. 23 No 2 issue of Mountain Research and Development: "Founded by a group of British officers, mountaineers, and naturalists in 1928, the Himalayan Club was a noted institution in British India that has lasted to this day. In 1927, Sir Geoffrey Corbett, a member of the Indian Civil Service, wrote a letter to 3 British officials with an interest in the Himalayas: Major Kenneth Mason of the Survey of India, Major General Walter Kirke (then acting as Chief of the General Staff), and Brigadier E. A. Tandy, Surveyor General of India. Corbett suggested founding a Himalayan Club, and the others supported the idea. Corbett then went ahead and contacted other leading officials, including the Viceroy, the Commander-in-Chief in India, and the Governor of the Punjab. Meanwhile, Mason contacted Major E. O. Wheeler of the Survey of India and Captain J. G. Bruce of the Gurkhas. These men were the founding members of the Himalayan Club, as Corbett himself narrated the story (Himalayan Journal [HJ], Vol 1, 1929). The Himalayan Club was based on the model of the Alpine Club (founded in 1857 in London). Its purpose was "To encourage and assist Himalayan travel and exploration, and to extend knowledge of the Himalaya and adjoining mountain ranges through science, art, literature and sport." The Club was officially inaugurated at a meeting at Army headquarters in Delhi on 17 February 1928. A year later, the Himalayan Club incorporated the Mountain Club of India, which had been formed in Calcutta in 1927-the year Corbett was preparing to found the Himalayan Club without knowing about the Calcutta venture. One of the main activities of the Himalayan Club has been the annual publication of the HJ since 1929. Kenneth Mason was its founding editor, serving from 1928 to 1940 (Vols 1-12)." . more information

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New York: Oxford University Press,. Very Good in Good dust jacket. 1974. Hard Cover. Xviii,758 pages, well illustrated, maps, cloth, dj, very good. From the publisher: "The concluding volume of Morison's monumental study of the discovery of America, this is the crowning achievement of America's greatest living historian. . . . He returns to a subject which has fascinating him throughout his career-Christopher Columbus-recaptures as well the adventures of two other great navigators, Ferdinand Magellan and Sir Francis Drake, and follows the explorations of many other fascinating adventurers around the shores of the Caribbean and Latin America and inland, too. The sweep of the narrative, the keen sense of participation Morison imparts to the events, the sparkling prose style, and the wisdom revelatory of a long, full life make this book. . . the capstone of an extraordinary career." . more information

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London: Hakluyt Society. Very Good. 1925. Hard Cover. Edited by Malcolm Letts. xxxiv,216 pages, 1 folding plate, 2 folding maps, cloth, very good. Works issued by the Hakluyt Society ; Second Series, NO. 57. The first publication of this work, which was found among the Sloane manuscripts at the British Museum. Includes his observations on the water organs in Belvedere and Frascati. . more information

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Las Vegas,: KC Publications,. Very Good. 1977. Soft Cover. 0916122506 . 64 pages (32 leaves), well illustrated in color, maps, pictorial wrappers, 8-1/2 by 11 inches, very good. . more information

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Athens,: Ohio University. Very Good in Good dust jacket. 1966. Hard Cover. Xiv,425 pages, 2 illustrations, 4 maps, cloth, dj, very good. From the publisher: "The present work, based on the explorer's journals and logs, tells the exciting story of the final stages of the opening up of the arctic. Also a book for both scholars and laymen, Neatby's account begins with the Elisha Kane expedition, in search of lost ships and crews of the English explorer Sir John Franklin, and continues through subsequent expeditions which either renewed the search, sought to chart Arctic regions, or attempted to reach the North Pole through the Polar Sea. Neatby dwells particularly on the adventures of Robert Peary, the truculent and controversial first men to reach the Pole, and concludes with Vihjalmur Stefansson's extensive exploration of the Canadian Arctic." . more information

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London: Hakluyt Society. Very Good. 1923. Hard Cover. Translated from the Icelandic edition of Sigfus Blondal, by Bertha S. Phillpotts. xxxvi,238,[1] pages, 6 plates (including map), cloth, very good. Volume I only. Works issued by the Hakluyt Society ; Second Series,no. 53. From the Preface: The Autobiography of Jon Olafsson, Traveler to the Indies, remained unprinted in Icelandic, save for a few excerpts, until 1908-9, when an edition by Mr. Sigfus Blondal, Librarian of the Royal Library, was published in Copenhagen by the Icelandic Heritage Society. The text of this edition, which was based on a scholarly collation of the extant MSS., has been implicitly followed in the English translation. . more information

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Boston: Chase, Nichols and Hill. 1861. Hard Cover. 132 pages, 25 illustrations, cloth has separated from the boards, rear board is lacking, cloth cover is complete but frayed and faded, text is shaken by good. Author identified by Moon as Carlton Bruce. Harvard University identifies author as Thomas Picton, pseudonym of Paul Preston. Full of printing errors (i.e. chapter headings go from 6 through 12 rather than 1 through 7 and the word chapter ('chaptet VI') is mispelled in the table of contents. Includes accounts of Jaguar Hunt, State of the Indians, The Yarns of the Mermaids and Mermen, The Fiery Dragon and the fierce Cratur, A troop of Ostriches, Arrive at Ceylon, Wild Boar Hunt, Quintin and Brian quit India and sail for New Holland, The Corroboree Dance by the Natives in the Forst, The Mutineers, Safe arrival at Liverpool Conclusion. Quite scarce. . more information

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Mystic, CT: Marine Historical Association. Very Good. 1965. Soft Cover. Marine Historical Association. Publication no. 44 Edited by Edouard A. Stackpole. 117 pages, well illustrated, maps, wrappers, ex-library with usual library markings otherwise very good. The Foreword reads "The manuscript containing the record of 'Schwatka's Search' - as this almost forgotten Arctic expedition was named by William H. Gilder, second in command - had lain forgotten for more than 75 years when it was located by Dr. Neil Josephson and through the Curator of Mystic Seaport, acquired by the Marine Historical Association's manuscript collection." From the Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition: Sir John Franklin, 1786-1847, British explorer in N Canada whose disappearance caused a widespread search of the Arctic. ~ After serving (1836-43) as governor of Van Diemen's Land (now Tasmania), Franklin set out in the Erebus and the Terror in 1845 to search for the Northwest Passage. When, three years later, no word from him had been received, there was dispatched the first of the more than 40 parties that in the following years were to search the Arctic for traces of the expedition. Although the geographical knowledge gained by the searchers was immense, no certain clues as to Franklin's fate were revealed until John Rae, in 1853-54, and Sir Francis McClintock, between 1857 and 1859, found evidence of the great arctic tragedy. The latter expedition, fitted by Lady Franklin, found records at Point Victory that established that Franklin's ships had been frozen in the ice between Victoria Island and King William Island. After his death in 1847, the survivors had abandoned ship in 1848 and had undertaken a journey southward over the frozen wastes of Boothia Peninsula toward civilization. Of the entire expedition of some 129 men, not one is known to have survived. Relics and documents of the Franklin party and of later search expeditions have been found as recently as 1960, and the quest for Franklin's diaries is still being continued. . more information

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New York: Harper & Brothers. Very Good. 1864. Hard Cover. 'With map and portraits, and numerous illustrations, chiefly from drawings by Captain Grant.' xxx,590 pages, [6 advertising] pages, very well illustrated, 2 maps (1 folding), original boards, new cloth backstrip, repaired tear in folding map. 1st American edition. This is a very nice copy, the contents are near fine, excepting the tear in the folding map. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "John Hanning Speke (May 4, 1827 - September 15, 1864) was an officer in the British Indian army, who made three voyages of exploration to Africa. He also created the Hamitic hypothesis, a suspected major cause of the Rwandan genocide. In 1854 he made his first voyage, joining the already famous Richard Francis Burton on an expedition to Somalia. Despite hardships, the two managed to reach the 'forbidden city' Harar. In 1856, Burton was asked to make a voyage to East Africa, to find the sources of the Nile. He again chose Speke as his companion. The two travelled inland from Zanzibar and discovered Lake Tanganyika. They heard of a second lake in the area, but Burton was too sick to make the voyage. Speke thus went alone, and found the lake, which he christened Lake Victoria. Speke returned to England before Burton, and made their voyage famous. Burton was embittered, because Speke declared Lake Victoria to be the Nile's source, whereas Burton believed Lake Tanganyika to be so, and because Speke had by then already been chosen to lead an expedition to further clarify the issue. Together with James Augustus Grant, Speke left from Zanzibar in October 1860. They travelled on the west side around Lake Victoria without actually seeing much of it, but on the north side of the lake, Speke found the Nile flowing out of it and discovered the Rippon Falls. Next he travelled to Gondokoro in southern Sudan, where he met Samuel Baker, then back to England. Speke's voyage did not resolve the issue, Burton claimed that because Speke had not followed the Nile from the place it flowed out of Lake Victoria to Gondokoro, he could not be sure they were the same river. A debate was planned between the two on September 16, 1864, but Speke died just one day before, of a hunting accident - although Burton and some others believed it might actually have been suicide." From the Introduction: "I profess accurately to describe naked Africa - Africa in those places where it has not received the slightest impulse, whether for good or for evil, from European civilization. If the picture be a dark one, we should, when contemplating these sons of Noah, try and carry our mind back to that time when our poor elder brother Ham was cursed by his father, and condemned to be the slave of both Shem and Japheth; for as they were then, so they appear to be now - a strikingly existing proof of the Holy Scriptures." . more information

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New York: Harper & Brothers. Good. 1877. Hard Cover. Xviii,288 pages, 12 plates, folding map, tables, text illustrations, cloth, ex-library with usual library markings, lacks most of folding map otherwise very good. From the preface: The important objects for which H.M.S. Challenger was placed at the disposal of a scientific staff under the direction of Professor Sir Charles Wyville Thomson, F.R.S., the gratifying results obtained by the full investigation of the bed of the ocean, and the vast amount of information gathered by visits to distant lands very rarely explored, render the cruise of the Challenger highly interesting and instructive to the British public. Under these circumstances, I have been induced by numerous friends to revise my daily journals, and publish in a concise and readable form a continuous narrative of this celebrated voyage." From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "The Challenger Expedition was a scientific expedition that made many discoveries to lay the foundation of oceanography. Prompted by Charles Wyville Thomson of Edinburgh University, the Royal Society of London obtained the use of a ship, HMS Challenger, from the Royal Navy and, between 1870 and 1872, modified it for scientific work, equipping it with separate laboratories for natural history and chemistry. The ship, commanded by Captain George Nares, sailed from Portsmouth on December 21, 1872. Under the scientific supervision of Thomson himself it travelled nearly 70,000 miles surveying and exploring. The result was the Report Of The Scientific Results of the Exploring Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873-76, which, among many other discoveries, catalogued 4,000 previously unknown species of animal. John Murray, who supervised the publication, described the report as 'the greatest advance in the knowledge of our planet since the celebrated discoveries of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries'." . more information

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London: Macmillan and Co. ,. Very Good. 1929. Hard Cover. 182 pages, 58 plates (2 folding) (98 illustrations including frontispiece), 2 folding maps, cloth, gilt lettering on back-strip and medallion on front cover very bright, a little fraying at top of back-strip otherwise very good. From the preface: 'A kindly fate and sympathetic comprehension on the part of those who officially dispense it, has enabled me, during intervals of my forty-one years' Indian service, to carry out explorations over the greater part of Innermost Asia, and along the whole of those north-western borderlands of India which by their historical past have powerfully attracted me since my early youth.' From the website of Wikipedia: Sir Marc Aurel Stein (26 November 1862-26 October 1943), born in Budapest, was a Hungarian Jewish archaeologist who became a British citizen. He was also a professor at various Indian universities. Stein was inspired by Sven Hedin's work, Through Asia. Stein took part in three successful expeditions and one failed expedition in Central Asia. The British Library's Stein collection of Chinese, Tibetan and Tangut manuscripts, Prakrit wooden tablets, and documents in Khotanese, Uighur, Sogdian and Eastern Turkic is the result of his travels through central Asia during the 1920s and 1930s. Stein discovered manuscripts in the previously lost Tocharian languages and recorded numerous archaeological sites especially in Iran and Baluchistan. Stein's greatest discovery was made at the "Caves of the Thousand Buddhas," near Dunhuang (Tun Huang). It was there that he discovered the Diamond Sutra, the world's oldest dated printed text, along with 40,000 other scrolls (all removed, with shameless cynicism, by gradually winning the confidence of the humble Buddhist caretaker). In 1901 Stein was responsible for exposing forgeries of Islam Akhun. During his expedition of 1906-1908 while surveying in the Kunlun mountain range in western China, Stein suffered frostbite and lost several toes on his right foot. When he was resting from his extended journeys into Central Asia, he spent most of his time living in a tent in the spectacularly beautiful alpine meadow called Gulmarg (or 'Meadow of Roses'). Except for his latest dog (which was always called "Dash"), he lived alone here. He died and is buried in Kabul. The art objects he collected are divided between the British Museum, the British Library, the Srinagar Museum, and the National Museum, New Delhi. His collection is important in the study of the history of Central Asia and the art and literature of Buddhism. . more information

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Brewer, Warren & Putnam. Very Good in Poor dust jacket. 1931. Hardcover. Xiv, 347 pages, plates, map, cloth, dust jacket frayed otherwise very good. From the website of the Explorers Club: "Many considered it foolhardy but Australia-born explorer Sir Hubert Wilkins was determined to be the first to use a submarine to cross the Arctic Ocean by way of the North Pole. At the Pole, he planned to drill up and rendezvous with the airship Graf Zeppelin. A decommissioned U. S. Navy WW I submarine was leased in 1930 and extensively modified for under-ice operation. Christened the Nautilus, the submarine reached the icepack but sabotage forced a return to Bergen, Norway and there the world's first Arctic submarine was scuttled in a fjord in late 1931. In September 2005, Dr. Stewart B. Nelson led an Explorers Club Flag Expedition that re-discovered the mostly forgotten Nautilus. The Wilkins-Ellsworth Trans Arctic Submarine Expedition of 1931 is certainly worthy of being remembered. Among the civilian crew of his submarine Nautilus was diver Frank Crilley, a holder of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and scientist Harald Sverdrup who would later become director of Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, California. " FR12-1 ; 347 pages . more information

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New York: Charles Scribner. Good. 1953. Hard Cover. 306 pages, cloth, rebound ex-library with usual library markings otherwise very good. From the Columbia Encycylopedia Sixth Edition, "Nathaniel Parker Willis, 1806–67, American author, b. Portland, Maine, grad. Yale, 1827. He was editor of the periodical the Legendary and later of the Token before founding (1829) the American Monthly Magazine in Boston. In 1831 he merged his magazine with George Pope Morris’s New-York Mirror and went abroad to write for the Mirror and for English magazines. As editor of the Mirror after 1840 and of the National Press (later the Home Journal), which he and Morris founded in 1846, Willis attracted many prominent contributors. His books, popular but ephemeral, were collections of his journalistic work; among them are Pencillings by the Way (1835), Inklings of Adventure (1836), and short stories in Dashes at Life with a Free Pencil (1845). . more information

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Berkeley,: University of California Press. Very Good. 1989. Softcover. 0520065646 . 512 pages, 8 plates, wrappers, very good. From the preface: "Creating a written and visual record was an essential part of European exploration from its beginnings, but until the mid-18th century, the record was haphazard at best. " PM64 ; 512 pages . more information

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New York: American Geographical Society. Very Good. 1928. First Edition. Hard Cover. American Geographical Society Library Series No. 4. With a note on the reproduction of the map, by A. B. Hoen. [2], vi, 74, [1] pages, 8 plates, cloth, very good. : "In 1906 Archer M. Huntington presented to the American Geographical Society one of three known maps of the world signed and dated by the Venetian, Giovanni Leardo. Of these, the oldest, as well as the crudest and simplest, is preserved in the Communal Library at Verona and carries the date 1442. The second (1448) somewhat more elaborate in design, belongs to the Civic Museum of Vicenza. The Society's map, the largest of the three, bears the signature in the lower right-hand corner: Jonaes Leardus de Venetteis me fezit abano domini 145(?). The last digit in this inscription is partly mutilated; the date, however is probably either 1452 or 1453. The Society's map is of primary interest as revealing a conception of the earth's surface typical of the century preceding the discovery of America. In its blending of colors and pleasing general composition it forms a work of art of no slight decorate value. Furthermore, the encircling calendar and many details on the map proper are distinctly unusual. The Society has therefore undertaken the publication of a full-sized colored facsimile, in explanation of which the present book was prepared." . more information

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