Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa. Reprinted from the original edition of 1822-4 with some additional material and with an introduction by I. Schapera (two volumes)

Published by The Batchworth Press, London, 1953, hardcovers, illustrated, index, plates, fold0ut map, set measures 17 cms x 24.7 cms x 8.2 cms, ex central reference library set (never lent out) with usual labels & stamps, otherwise condition: very good.

(illustrated with 17 plates and many small text vignettes, pp xxx, 381, 3; xvi, 473, a large folding map. a folding chart, the fore-edges and bottom edges untrimmed, blue buckram faded and very slightly worn.Limited edition of 1250 copies)

 "Burchell's Travels . . . is generally acknowledged to be unsurpassed by any other item, if we take into account accuracy, the background knowledge of the writer, new information, illustrations (both for accuracy and beauty), typography and book production" (Kennedy's Africana Repository)

William John Burchell (1781   1863) was an English explorer, naturalist, traveller, artist, and author. Burchell's extensive African collections included plants, animal skins, skeletons, insects, seeds, bulbs and fish. After his death, his plant specimens, drawings and manuscripts, both South African and Brazilian, were presented by his sister, Anna Burchell, to Kew Gardens and the insects to Oxford University Museum. He is known for the copious and accurate notes he made to accompany every collected specimen, detailing habit and habitat, as well as the numerous drawings and paintings of landscapes, portraits, costumes, people, animals and plants.