1861 London, 1st edn, 479pp, folding-map, illus, folding frontis piece of gorilla. In 1859, Paul Du Chaillu, a young explorer of French origin and adopted American nationality, emerged from the jungles of the Gabon with 20 complete specimens of gorillas, an animal virtually unknown outside of West Africa. It was the same year Darwin published his "On the Origins of Species" and Du Chaillu s discoveries and accounts made for a sensation. In 1861 he was back in London for the launch of this book and he became the most celebrated figure of the season during which he gave colorful lectures about hunting fierce animals and befriending cannibals. He is said to have been the first white man to discover the existence of the bongo. His work created controversy with many people doubting his reports and he was subsequently fiercely attacked in the British press. His personal behavior did not help; he was a ladies man and was given to plagiarizing. However, to defend himself, Du Chaillu returned to Gabon a few years later and despite immense difficulties brought back, among other things, a whole skin of a giant otter, the discovery of which had been dismissed in London in the haste to deride his character. His books stand as one of the greats of African exploration and hunting. Very good minus copy, rebacked spine, variant binding. Black cloth with gilt letters on spine, gilt gorilla on front cover. Another binding with less decorated green pebble cloth. Seller Inventory # 000949

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Bibliographic Details

Title: EXPLORATIONS AND ADVENTURES IN EQUATORIAL ...

Publisher: John Murray

Binding: Hardcover

Edition: 1st Edition

Store Description

World Wide Hunting Books, from the Publisher of Sports Afield magazine, sells fine antiquarian big-game hunting and exploration & hunting books on Asia, North America, Europe and Africa. World Wide Hunting Books? stock is mainly antiquarian first editions that are in above-average condition; we have the collector in mind when we buy our books. If you are looking for a rare first edition on elephant hunting or a book on an expedition after wild sheep in Asia that took place over a century ago, you will likely find it in our extensive stock. We have books on tiger, bear, wild sheep, elk, ibex, buffalo, rhino, elephant, and lion hunting. We also have early exploration and hunting accounts from North America, Asia, and Africa. If it is a book on big-game hunting and if it is out of print, it is likely we have handled the book in our thirty-five-plus years of being in this field. We maintain a detailed, proprietary database with seven thousand-plus entries with bibliographical notes that helps us keep track of the thousands of hunting books ever printed. We work with small collectors as well as huge university libraries. We are proud to have helped some of our customers create collections that contain more than one thousand books, but we are equally happy to provide you with that one special book you have always longed for or want to present as a gift.

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LUDO J WURFBAIN
15321 CHEMICAL LN STE A, Huntington Beach, CA, 92649, U.S.A.

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