Travels To Discover The Source Of The Nile, In The Years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772, And 1773

Edinburgh: Printed by J.Ruthven for G.G.J. and J.Robinson, London, 1790., 1790. 5 Volumes. 4to. pp. 6 p.l., lxxxiii, 535; 2 p.l., viii, 718; 2 p.l., viii, 759; 2 p.l., viii, 695; 2 p.l., xiv, 230, [9]index, [1]errata. complete with half-titles but lacking plate list. 3 large folding engraved maps, 58 engraved plates of animals, birds, plants, battle plans (each with leaf of explanation opposite), & 4 leaves of Ethiopic script. engraved title vignettes & headpiece. contemporary sprinkled calf, rebacked, corners renewed (some scarring to covers, some offsetting from plates, 1 map foxed otherwise the foxing is minor & infrequent, 1 spine label imperfect, a few short marginal tears). Exlibris of explorer & author Wilfred Thesiger. First Edition. Bruce spent five years (1768-73) travelling extensively in upper Egypt and Abyssinia, and reached the source of the Blue Nile, following it to its confluence with the White Nile. His history and description of Abyssinia are particularly valuable, as the country had been visited only once by a European (Poncet) in the previous one hundred and fifty years. Bruce immediately won the respect and admiration of the Abyssinians on account of his imposing physical appearance and manner, his courage, knowledge of Geez, and horsemanship, as well as his acquired skill in medicine, which allowed him to save some members of the royal family of Abyssinia from smallpox. His narrative also contains sections on the history and religion of Egypt, Indian trade, the invention of the alphabet, and an appendix (Volume V), entitled Select Specimens of Natural History, describing and illustrating various plants, birds, animals, and insects, including the rhinoceros, hyaena, fennec, and lynx. All of the maps and plates of natural history subjects, artifacts, antiquities, and monuments are based on Bruce’s own drawings and those of his companion, Italian draughtsman, Luigi Balugani. Bruce believed he had discovered the source of the true Nile when he reached the springs of the Blue Nile in 1770. "He had not reached the source of the true Nile, but only that of its considerable tributary. He was also in error…in regarding himself as the first European who had reached these fountains…There is a sense, however, in which Bruce may be more justly esteemed the discoverer of the fount of the Blue Nile than Paez, who stumbled upon it by accident, and, absorbed by missionary zeal, thought little of the exploit to which Bruce had dedicated his life." (DNB) The fame and interest of Bruce’s travels are due in part to the vivid and robust style in which his narrative is written: "He will always remain the poet, and his work the epic, of African travel." (DNB) Blackmer 221. Brunet I 1283. Cox I 388-89. Gay 44. Ibrahim-Hilmy I 91. Nissen, ZBI, 617. cfMendelssohn I 311.. 1st Edition. Hardcover. Very Good.