Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa by Frederick Courteney Selous

Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa by Frederick Courteney Selous, C.M.Z.S., Gold Medallist of the Royal Geographical Society, is reproduced here in a 1984 reprint of the original 1893 Rowland Ward edition. The cover design is by Time-Life Books (1982), and the book was printed and bound by Brepols S.A. in Turnhout, Belgium.

Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa carries Selous’s own subtitle: the narrative of his last eleven years on the Zambezi and its tributaries, with an account of the colonisation of Mashonaland and the progress of the gold industry in that country. The original title page is reproduced in full, facing a frontispiece portrait of the author with his facsimile signature.

Selous was the most famous hunter and explorer of his day and served as guide to the Pioneer Column that entered Mashonaland in 1890. Travel and Adventure in South-East Africa is his first-hand record of that period, covering the country, its people, its wildlife and the early days of what became Rhodesia. It remains one of the key primary sources on the opening up of the interior of south-central Africa.

Condition – Near Fine Plus

A near fine plus copy in full leather binding. The front board is stamped in gilt with the title and author, framed by a double gilt and red stamped border. The spine has raised leather bands with gilt stamping on red labels. All edges of the text block are gilt, and the endpapers are an attractive marbled design. The binding and gilt are clean and bright, and the pages are clean throughout. A lovely, well-kept example.