Rare Book Monthly
Book Catalogue Reviews - March - 2008 Issue
Africa and Explorer Richard Burton from Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books
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While most of Burton's trips brought him to the hottest of climates, he did vary his destination in 1872 when he accepted an invitation to explore the sulfur mining potential of Iceland. The otherwise chilly island has numerous hot springs which produce an abundance of sulfur. Item 17 is Burton's 1875 book Ultima Thule; or, a summer in Iceland. £750 (US $1,470).
Item 31 is Across Africa by Verney Lovett Cameron. Cameron was sent out by the Royal Geographic Society to meet the famed explorer, David Livingstone, but he never got to speak any immortal words, like "Dr. Livingstone, I presume." Unfortunately, Livingstone was dead when Cameron caught up with him. Nevertheless, he did quite a bit of exploring around Lake Tanganyika, and then proceeded to be the first European to completely cross equatorial Africa. Along with information about his travels, Cameron also writes about the slave trade, which he thoroughly abhorred. £400 ($784).
Bernard J. Shapero Rare Books is found online at www.shapero.com
