Allan Quatermain - A Tale of Adventure

Haggard, H. Rider

Published by Rand, McNally and Co, Chicago, 1912

About this Item

vii, (1), 9-251, (3) pages; OCLC 22044847 Contents clean, unmarked and secure in original red cloth binding with gilt lettering at front board and spine, pages untrimmed, top edges gilt. No date on title or copyright page. c. 1910-1912 Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel King Solomon's Mines, its one sequel Allan Quatermain (1887), twelve prequel novels and four prequel short stories, totalling eighteen works. The book Science-Fiction: The Early Years said about Allan Quatermain that the book was "one of Haggard's most successful works" and "the lost-race novel par excellence, setting up many of the motifs and fictional patterns that became an integral part of the subgenre". At the beginning of the book, Allan Quatermain's only son has died and he longs to get back into the wilderness. He persuades Sir Henry Curtis, Captain John Good, and the Zulu chief Umslopogaas to accompany him, and they set out from the coast of east Africa into the territory of the Maasai. While staying with a Scottish missionary, Mr. Mackenzie, they run into a group of Maasai who kidnap Mr. Mackenzie's daughter. The Maasai demand the life of one of the party as ransom, but instead they lead an attack on the Maasai, catching them by surprise and slaughtering them. The group then travel by canoe along an underground river to a lake (which turns out to be the sacred lake of Zu-Vendis) in the kingdom of Zu-Vendis beyond a range of mountains. The Zu-Vendi are a warlike race of white-skinned people isolated from other African races; their capital is called Milosis. At the time of the British party's arrival, they are ruled jointly by two sisters, Nyleptha and Sorais. Quatermain, an English professional big game hunter and adventurer, has been portrayed in film and television by Richard Chamberlain, Sean Connery, Cedric Hardwicke, Patrick Swayze and Stewart Granger among others.

Seller Inventory # 45370

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Allan Quatermain - A Tale of Adventure
• Publisher: Rand, McNally and Co, Chicago
• Publication Date: 1912
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good+