Voyage de F. Le Vaillant, dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique, par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance: nouvelle édition, revue, corrigeé et considérablement augumentée par l'auteur ; ornée de vingt figures en taille douce, dont huit n'avoient pas encore paru.

Vol 1: xxxii, 383, [1] pages; Vol 2: 403, [1, table des chapitres and errata for vol 1] pages; plus 20 engravings (7 folded).

Boards rubbed at extremities. Lacking title page to volume 2. Rare spots of light foxing and feint water stain to bottom corner of first 16 pages in volume 2. Text and engravings clean, unmarked, and fresh. Ex-libris label and stamp to paste-downs of both volumes together with neat owners' pencil inscriptions. Frontispiece engraving to volume 1 shaved at the bottom edge with the loss of the title.

François Le Vaillant (1753-1824), French naturalist, explorer, ornithologist and collector. He is attributed with providing the first published description of a giraffe, a skeleton of which he imported to France.

His narrative of the expedition contains valuable ornithological information and interesting notes on the peoples he encountered, including the Khoikhoi ("Hottentots") and the Xhosas. Some bird names he coined are still in use and some species (e.g. Levaillant's Cuckoo, Levaillant's Green Woodpecker) bear his name. He described many new species of birds despite some later discovered errors in his attributions.

As a traveller and writer Levaillant reputedly tended to describe the African people he encountered with sympathy, and for this reason viewed the Dutch settlers in a negative way. By travelling around southern Africa, observing the wild and reflecting upon himself and mankind, it has been claimed that Le Vaillant was the pioneer of a genre of travel writing, whilst also popularising the idea of a wildlife "safari". The latter due to his penchant for shooting the numerous wildlife specimens he collected and described.

This new edition, revised, corrected and enlarged by Levaillant, is illustrated with 20 plates (animals, views, camps, natives) compared to 12 plates in the first edition of 1790. It includes the 'Hottentot Woman' plate in Volume 2, which is sometimes missing or suppressed due to its overtly sexual nature. As his text explains, "elle laissa détacher son petit tablier, et me permit de contempler tranquillement ce que le lecteur verra lui-même dans la copie fidelle que j'en ai-tirée".

Together these 2 volumes are heavier than the average quoted in my store listings and, as a consequence, the shipping cost will be higher than that quoted in my listing. Please contact me if you wish more details.