1.Francois Le Vaillant: Travels into the Interior of Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, Volume I (Van Riebeeck Society, Second series, No. 38), Published by Van Riebeeck Society, Cape Town, ZA, 2007, hardcover, 203 pages, condition; as new.
2.Francois Le Vaillant: Travels into the Interior of Africa via the Cape of Good Hope, Volume II (Van Riebeeck Society, Third series, No. 3), published by Historical Publications South Africa (formerly the Van Riebeeck Society), Cape Town,, hardcover, 203 pages, condition: new.
François Levaillant (1753 1824) was a French author, explorer, naturalist, zoological collector, travel writer, and noted ornithologist. He described many new species of birds based on birds he collected in Africa and several birds are named after him. He was among the first to use colour plates for illustrating birds and opposed the use of binomial nomenclature introduced by Carl Linnaeus, preferring instead to use descriptive French names such as the bateleur (meaning "tumbler or tight-rope walker") for the distinctive African eagle.
In 1780, a young Francois Vaillant, born in Suriname and raised in France, set out from Holland for the Cape to collect specimens of birds and animals from the distant and exotic region of the Cape, later becoming famous as the founder of South African ornithology, but at the time finding renown for writing of his travels and putting South Africa firmly in the minds of Europeans. Long out of print, this is a new translation of volume two of his 'Travels'.