[Item #61215] First Footsteps in East Africa or, An Exploration of Harar. EAST AFRICA, Richard F. BURTON.

First Footsteps in East Africa or, An Exploration of Harar

London: Tylston and Edwards, 1894. Reprint. Octavo (22cm). Two volumes in black cloth, stamped in gilt, top edges red; black coated endpapers; [xxxvi],209,[1]pp; [x],276,[4]pp; 3pp testimonials at rear of vol. II; 2 maps, 4 chromolithographs. Cloth lightly rubbed, worn at spine ends, front hinge of vol. I cracking slightly, else clean and sound: Very Good.

Vols VI and VII of the Memorial Edition of the Works of Captain Sir Richard F. Burton. Account of a trip to the forbidden city Harar in Ethiopia, by notorious traveller Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890). Harar was "an important religious centre and notorious base for the slave trade in Somalia," forbidden to European travelers (ODNB). Burton (who had previously snuck into Mecca in disguise) planned a complex expedition there. He was forced to limit his ambitions by the British political resident at Aden, but he successfully entered Harar in 1855 and spent ten days there, posing as a British diplomat. He subsequently published this account of his trip in 1856.

Price: $500.00

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