SPEKE, John Hanning (1827-1864). Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile. Edinburgh and London, 1863. FIRST EDITION.
8vo (225 x 140 mm). 2 lithographed maps (one folding in rear cover pocket, one printed in two colors), 2 engraved portraits, 24 wood-engraved plates. 34pp. publisher's advertisements at end. (Upper corners of appendix clipped.) Publisher's gilt-decorated brown cloth by Edmund & Remnants, with their ticket (lower cover fore-edge slightly discolored).FIRST EDITION, "ONE OF THE CORNERSTONE BOOKS OF AFRICAN EXPLORATION." After his expedition into Central Africa with Richard Burton (see lot 31), Speke returned to England ahead of Burton (who had fallen ill) to announce his belief that the Nile issued from Lake Victoria Nyanza. Burton and his fellow geographers were sceptical, and Burton believed Speke had used many of their earlier joint findings. Speke returned to Africa and Lake Victoria in 1861 with James Grant (see lot 84). They trekked from Zanzibar into the highlands around then-unknown Lake Victoria, discovered Ripon Falls, and Speke found what he believed conclusive evidence that the Nile originated from it, as published in this work. Czech p 151.
