inscribed presentation copy with fine provenance

Inscribed presentation copy of the most important African travel narrative at the time of its publication, with superb provenance. Presentation copies of this important work are rare with only around twenty thought to exist.

Inscribed on the title-page: 'John G. Children Esq FRS / British Museum / with the author's best / wishes / D. Denham', and with the bookplate of Halstead Place, Children's home. John George Children (1777-1852) was a British natural historian who was Keeper of the Zoology Department of the British Museum from 1837 to 1840. In 1833 he was founding president of what became the Royal Entomological Society of London. He was however much more comfortable with mineralogy than zoology: he constructed a large galvanic cell with Sir Humphry Davy in 1813, conducting several experiments, and invented a method to extract silver from ore without the need for mercury in 1824.

The official expedition to discover the course of the Niger from the starting point of Tripoli, rather than West Africa. Denham and Clapperton were part of the expedition led by the Scottish doctor Walter Oudney to open relations with the Fulani kingdom, whose legendary trading centre was Kano, in order to discover the source of the Niger, which was widely believed to flow into Lake Chad. Having crossed the Sahara and found no rivers entering Lake Chad, the party divided with Denham exploring the Shari River and Oudney and Clapperton (who shared a mutual loathing of Denham) proceeding to Kano. Oudney died enroute but Clapperton was received by the ruler of Kano, Mohammed Bello who, having first supplied an accurate map of the course of the Niger, later backtracked and supplied a different, more misleading, map when he realised the dangers of opening up his kingdom to foreigners. Clapperton rejoined Denham at Lake Chad and back across the Sahara.

First edition; 4to (28 x 23.5 cm); presentation inscription to title, engraved frontispiece, 36 engraved plates, 1 of which hand-coloured, 6 engraved vignettes, all by Finden after the authors, large engraved folding map at rear, bookplate to paste-down, a little offsetting from plates; contemporary full green calf with joints professionally repaired, gilt rules to board borders, edges, and turn-ins, spine in six gilt compartments with gilt morocco lettering piece, all edges gilt, a touch of toning to boards, a very good copy; xlviii, 335, [iv], 269, [ii]pp.

Gay 337; Hilmy I, 172; Lowndes I, 629; cf. Playfair, Tripoli, 154 (3rd ed.).