Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - December - 2005 Issue
Into The Heart Of Africa From Bernard Shapero Rare Books
none
John Speke was the British explorer who solved one of the big mysteries of the era, finding the location of the source of the Nile. Speke had discovered Lake Victoria and believed it to be the Nile's source while traveling on one of Richard Burton's expeditions, but Burton challenged the claim. Speke would return in 1860 to confirm the discovery. Item 200 is Speke's Journal of the discovery of the source of the Nile, published in 1863. This is a presentation copy, inscribed to Sophia Fuller, Speke's aunt. £2,500 (US $4,427).
Speke's former leader, Richard Burton, was one of the great 19th century explorers of Africa and the Near East. However, even he tired of these adventures, so on the eve of the Civil War, he went to explore the American West. Item 44 is his, The City of Saints and across the Rocky Mountains to California, published in 1861. He visited Brigham Young in Salt Lake City, and was later criticized for his liberal comments toward the institution of polygamy, still in practice at the time. As Burton explains, "Servants are rare and costly; it is cheaper and more comfortable to marry them." This point of view, like polygamy itself, is frowned upon today. £900 (US $1,593).
You may find Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books online at www.shapero.com, or reach them by phone at +44 (0)20 7493 0876.
