[SLAVERY] BAKER, Samuel W.

Ismailia: A Narrative of the Expedition to Central Africa for the Suppression of the Slave Trade. Organized by Ismail, Khedive of Egypt

New York: Harper and Brothers, 1875. First American Edition. Octavo (24cm). Green cloth stamped in gilt; brown coated endpapers; 542pp; steel-engraved frontispiece, 2 wood-enraved frontispieces, 2 color maps (1 folding), and 48 wood-engraved plates, all with tissue guards. Inscribed "Charles V. Payne from his friend M. R. E. Christmas 1874" on front free endpaper; the same inscription is repeated with the date 1875 on a front flyleaf. A sound copy, externally rubbed, with superficial silverfishing to both boards, internally clean with two central gatherings pulled but not fully detached, short tear to folding map at gutter: just Very Good.

Samuel Baker (1821-1893) was a noted British explorer of Africa. In 1860, he was appointed "governor-general of the equatorial Nile basin" by the Khedive Ismail of Egypt, with duties including "annexing the equatorial Nile basin, establishing Egyptian authority over the region south of Gondokoro, suppressing the slave trade," and more (ODNB). His success was mixed: he successfully annexed Gondokoro and did suppress the slave trade, but failed to establish secure control of the region (ODNB). This account, published after his return to England, details how he "raised and trained a fighting force...to crush" the slave trade (Czech). CZECH p.11.

Price: $550.00

Go Back