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WANDERINGS IN WEST AFRICA
by Richard F. Burton Tinsley Brothers ~ 1863 
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Click Here For Book Wants |
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Exact Facsimile Print Limited Edition of 500 Numbered Copies Cost: $225. To Order call: 1.888.656.2006 |
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This is Richard F. Burton’s first book on West Africa. This production
mirrors the original in exacting detail.
The book is almost completely hand
made. It is printed on acid-free, vellum
paper, smyth-sewn in the
traditional way and bound in morocco
textured maroon gilt cloth. Only 500
numbered copies will be produced of
this work. Read the complete story behind Burton and this book.
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A portion from the sale of each book will be donated to the Burton Tomb Restoration Fund to help restore the Mausoleum of Sir Richard F. Burton in England. www.burtonfund.org |
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This is the first of Burton's books on his years in West Africa:
Following his marriage to Isabel Arundell in 1861 the Burton's were in financial difficulties. This led Burton to apply for
and accept a minor consulship on the Spanish Island of Fernando Po (Bioko, off Cameroon in West Africa).
Wanderings in West Africa tells the story of Burton's voyage out to his new posting, with visits en route
to Madeira, Tenerife, Freetown (Sierra Leone) and Lagos. Once appointed H.B.M.'s Consul and settled at the Island of Fernando Po, his jurisdiction stretched for some six hundred miles along the
Bights of Biafra and Benin, including the mouth of the Niger, but his explorations took him considerably further.
This work includes detailed descriptions of Burton's amazing travels to the inland tribes and kingdoms. He used his post and authority to explore the contiguous areas of Nigeria and Sierra Leone, as well as the islands of Madeira
and Tenerife. Fascinated by the high incidence of European mortality in West Africa, he believed it possible to render the region "not more unhealthy than the East or West Indies.
Burton's publication of the book anonymously as a "Fellow of
the Royal Geographic Society" ( F.R.G.S) may have been a slap at the Royal Geographical Society as
Burton was at odds with the organization's leadership at the time over the Nile's sources. Hence the acerbic
dedication in the book: 'to the true friends of Africa- not the "Philanthropist" or Exeter Hall'.
Modern gold-mining in
West Africa can be directly linked to this work. Although it was well known that there was gold on the
Gold Coast, nothing was done to develop it, and it was Burton who, in this book,
drew public attention again to this ancient gold-field.
His consulship in Fernando Po
proved of little interest to Burton, except that it allowed him to explore and document life in 1860's West Africa.
If you have any further information, please e-mail us at info@voyager-press.com |
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