Burchell’s Travels – Selections from Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa by William J. Burchell

Burchell’s Travels is a 1935 selection from Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa by the English naturalist and explorer William J. Burchell, edited by H. Clement Notcutt. It was published in London by Oxford University Press (Humphrey Milford) and printed in Great Britain by Headley Brothers of Kingsway, London and Ashford, Kent.

Burchell travelled through the Cape Colony and far into the interior between 1810 and 1815, covering thousands of miles by ox-wagon. His original two-volume account, published in the 1820s, is one of the most respected early descriptions of the region, its landscapes, plants and animals, and the people he met along the way. Notcutt’s edition of Burchell’s Travels gathers the most readable passages into a single compact volume.

Burchell is remembered as one of the finest naturalists to work in southern Africa, and several species, including Burchell’s zebra, carry his name. His writing remains an important primary source for the early history of the Cape frontier and the northern interior.

This edition of Burchell’s Travels will appeal to collectors of Africana and early travel literature, readers interested in Cape and South African history, and anyone curious about natural history exploration in nineteenth-century southern Africa.

Condition – Good

A small-format hardcover bound in green cloth with gilt titling on the front board. The spine is heavily sunned and its title is no longer visible. The cloth has separated along the rear hinge. The front endpaper is missing and light foxing is present. A sound reading copy of Burchell’s Travels, an important Africana text.