The Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa, in the Year 1805, Together with other Documents, Official and Private, Relating to the Same Mission, to Which is Prefixed an Account of the Life of Mr. Park

Philadelphia: Edward Earle, 1815. A desirable copy of the relatively scarce first American edition of this important book about the last African expedition conducted by Scottish explorer of West Africa, Mungo Park (1771- 1806). After his first successful exploration of the upper Niger River around 1796, he wrote a popular and influential travel book titled Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa in which he theorized the Niger and Congo merged to become the same river. He was killed during a second expedition in 1806, having successfully traveled about two-thirds of the way down the Niger. Park's death meant the idea of a Niger-Congo merger remained unproven but it became the leading theory among geographers. The mystery of the Niger's course, which had been speculated about since the Ancient Greeks and was second only to the mystery of the Nile source, was not solved for another 25 years, in 1830, when it was discovered the Niger and Congo were in fact separate rivers [Wikipedia]. This book about Park's last expedition comprises several sections: the life of Mungo Park, his journal from the last expedition, several appendixes with relevant documents, and the journals of two expedition members who searched for him after he disappeared and later were able to find out that he had died after an attack by hostile native Africans. Bound in contemporary brown leather with red spine label with titling. Leather is bumped, rubbed but still nice. Missing free endpapers. Hinges are tender. Text pages are foxed throughout, but legibility not affected. Small piece torn from margin of page 155 not affecting text. A few text illustrations. The large fragile fold-out map is present and intact. A nice copy. Octavo. 302 pages.