174 - Africa - DENHAM (Dixon) & CLAPPERTON (Hugh) & OUDNEY (Walter). Travels and Discoveries in the Northern and Central Parts of Africa, Across the Great Desert, as Far as the 10th Parallel North, and from Kouka in Bornu to Sackatou, capital of the Felatah Empire, undertaken during the years 1822, 1823, and 1824 by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Dr. Oudney; followed by an appendix containing an Essay on the Language of Bornu, glossaries of the languages of Timbuktu, Mandara, and Begharmi; translations of Arabic manuscripts on the geography of the interior of Africa; and numerous documents on mineralogy, botany, and the various branches of natural history in that region. Paris, Arthus Bertrand, Mongie the Elder, 1826. 3 vols. in-8 and a large in-4 atlas in uniform midnight-blue half-shagreen binding, ribbed spine, title and volume numbers in gold (contemporary binding for the text and imitation binding for the atlas, with covers preserved).

Africa - DENHAM (Dixon) & CLAPPERTON (Hugh) & OUDNEY (Walter). Travels and Discoveries in the Northern and Central Parts of Africa, Across the Great Desert, as Far as the 10th Parallel North, and from Kouka in Bornu to Sackatou, capital of the Felatah Empire, undertaken during the years 1822, 1823, and 1824 by Major Denham, Captain Clapperton, and the late Dr. Oudney; followed by an appendix containing an Essay on the Language of Bornu, glossaries of the languages of Timbuktu, Mandara, and Begharmi; translations of Arabic manuscripts on the geography of the interior of Africa; and numerous documents on mineralogy, botany, and the various branches of natural history in that region. Paris, Arthus Bertrand, Mongie the Elder, 1826. 3 vols. in-8 and a large in-4 atlas in uniform midnight-blue half-shagreen binding, ribbed spine, title and volume numbers in gold (contemporary binding for the text and imitation binding for the atlas, with covers preserved). First edition of the French translation of this famous account by Messrs. Eyries and de Larenaudière. The quarto-sized atlas contains 18 plates and a large fold-out map. The plates depict indigenous people, landscapes, weapons, utensils, etc. Setting out from Tripoli in 1821 for Timbuktu, Major Dixon Denham (1786–1828) reached Murzuk (in present-day Libya) and crossed the Bilma Desert (following a trail of human and animal skeletons!) before reaching Bilma, the capital of Tibesti, and then Bornu. The expedition then skirted Lake Chad, crossed the Komadougou River, and arrived in Kouka, where it was very warmly received and took part in several slave raids... After numerous explorations in the region, Denham returned to Tripoli in August 1824, becoming the first European to circumnavigate Lake Chad. He had also observed that the lake had no visible outlet and that, contrary to popular belief, the Niger and the Nile formed two entirely distinct basins. Upon his return, Denham was appointed governor of the colony of free blacks in Sierra Leone, a position he held until his death. Dr. Oudney (1790–1824) was sent on a mission to Bornu to take up the post of consul there. He joined Denham’s expedition in 1822, along with his Scottish compatriot, Captain Clapperton (1788–1827). While Denham explored the western shore of Lake Chad alone, the two men decided to set out to explore the course of the Niger River through the Fellatah Empire and were the first to visit the city of Kano, from which they brought back numerous notes. After Oudney’s death there, exhausted by the journey, Clapperton returned to England with Denham, only to set out almost immediately on a new expedition to the same regions. Included in the same binding is: CLAPPERTON (Hugh), Second Journey into the Interior of Africa, from the Gulf of Benin to Sackatou [...] during the years 1825, 1826, and 1827. Followed by the account of Richard LANDER’s [his servant] journey from Kano to the coast. Paris, Arthus Bertrand, Mongie aîné, 1829. 2 volumes, in-8. Portrait of Clapperton on the frontispiece; one map in each volume (course of the Kouarra River). An interesting and rare set, in uniform bindings, of the first two French editions of Denham and Clapperton’s travels in Africa. A few minor scuffs. Irregular foxing. From the J.-P. Morin library (Sotheby’s auction 2025). (Gay 337; Chadenat 558 “one of the most important works on this part of Africa.”)