1897 The New Africa-River Exploration-African Game Hunting-Okavango-Botswana-Map

Description: THE NEW AFRICA: A JOURNEY UP THE CHOBE AND DOWN THE OKOVANGA RIVERS, A RECORD OF EXPLORATION AND SPORT BY AUREL SCHULZ, M.D. AND AUGUST HAMMER, C.E. Published in 1897 by Charles Scribner's Son's, New York. RARE First American Edition. Title continues, " with a newly drawn map of hitherto unexplored parts of the country, and seventy illustrations from original drawings by the authors and photographers." Original green pictorial boards w/ gilt lettering and decoration including buck's head on spine.Contains 409 rough cut pages (and many uncut) pages, two pages of ad's at rear, frontispiece portrait of Schulz, four color plates of Bushman paintings, numerous text illustrations, folding map. Bookplate inside front cover by famous bookplate engraver/artist Edwin Davis French. Front cover crack, title page loose but present, edge/corner chipping on the covers including a crack on the spine covering, mild cover discoloration, spot stains on many pages, hinges slightly loose but solid, small map tear, tightly bound, good condition. Very scarce. I have not been able to locate another first American edition on the internet, and have not found any that include the fold-out map. BOOK CONTENTS DESCRIPTION FROM SEVERAL SOURCES: The authors traveled up the Chobe River to explore the unknown reaches of that waterway from its confluence with the Zambezi to the Okavango River. There are numerous recounting of sporting adventures including lion, sable, hippopotamus, eland, and rhinoceros. “It is a most peculiar sensation to have a rhinoceros charge one in the open. The elastic bounds of the great black mass, with the horn at the executive end swaying from side to side as the head swings in unison with the rest of the animal, have anything but a reassuring effect.” After a failed elephant hunt, giraffe was bagged, as were additional lion and a variety of antelope species. A very difficult work to locate, and valuable for its descriptions of the region.’---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The New Africa is a gem of a book on exploration and travel in south-central Africa. The journey by Aurel Schulz and August Hammar took place in 1884 but the book was only published in 1897. At that time books on adventure and hunting were out of fashion - Victorian society was tired of previous books (such as those written by Frederick Selous) which were focused on the wholesale slaughter of animals, especially elephants.The reason for the late publication is curious but relates to certain other agendas of Schulz. Schulz was the initiator and author of the book.He was a remarkable man. He was of German parentage but born in Durban, Natal in 1856. He spent his childhood and adolescent years in the South Africa bush. His knowledge was extraordinary and this come through in the account he wrote. He understood native customs, survival tactics in the wilds of Africa. He was extraordinarily nonjudgmental about native those readers familiar with Livingstone, Selous, Chapman and Baines and other who all traveled in this territory or in parts of it,(before Schulz and Hammar), will be enthralled by The New Africa for its depth, its broad base of knowledge, its sense of humor and it human touch. He was a qualified medical doctor from Berlin Medical School so we get fascinating views on indigenous medicine and 'modern' practices.He was also politically astute about the rivalry between European powers and the Transvaal Boers who in 1884 were all set for the race to carve up Africa. Was he more actively involved in the process than he leads us to believe in The Book and in subsequent interviews? Is it possible that we might unravel this?

Price: 599.99 USD

Location: Jersey City, New Jersey

End Time: 2024-11-24T19:35:46.000Z

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