DOWNEY'S AFRICA. [Association Copy Inscribed by Syd Downey to Bill Ryan].

London: Cassell, (1959)., (1959).. Good. INSCRIBED BY SYD DOWNEY, THE SUBJECT OF THE BOOK, TO PROFESSIONAL HUNTER BILL RYAN & ALSO SIGNED BY RYAN - Octavo, 8-1/2 inches high by 5-3/8 inches wide. Hardcover, bound in wine-red cloth titled in gilt on the spine, in the original pictorial dust wrapper. The corners and head and tail of the book's spine are slightly bumped. The dust jacket is creased and chipped with pieces out from the head and tail of the jacket's spine. xviii & 168 pages, illustrated with a map and 10 pages of photographs. There is some offsetting to the front and rear endpapers. Good.

First edition.

Inscribed by Syd Downey to Bill Ryan in the year of publication: "14/11/59 To Bill Ryan - one of the few who knew the 'old' Kenya, and who helped to make it. / From his friend Sydney Downey".

Sydney Downey (1905-1983), "Downey is a white hunter; some say, the greatest since Selous. Like his brethren, he is as much a naturalist as a hunter. He loves East Africa and its wild life with a passionate comprehending intensity." - from the dust wrapper copy.

From the library of professional hunter Bill Ryan, signed by him on the front endpaper with his Nairobi address. In a tribute to Bill Ryan (c.1908-1985) in Gamecoin Magazine, Chuck Ennis writes of him: "Bill was one of Kenya's best liked and well-known professional hunters". Bill Ryan arrived in Kenya from South Africa when he was 11 years old. He quickly became a crack shot and an expert horseman. He spoke several African languages fluently. After serving in World war II h went into the saw milling business. In 1954 he took up professional hunting full time. He was eagerly sought after and escorted many celebrities throughout East Africa - including Ernest Hemingway, Clark Gable, Gary Cooper Bing Crosby and others. During the last 14 years of his life he resided in Nairobi and Malindi with his dear friend "Bimbetta", the widow of Ambassador Lincoln MacVeagh, Virginia.