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Book Condition: Used
Seller: The Kelmscott Bookshop

United States
About Item: Philadelphia: Edward Earle, 1815. A desirable copy of the relatively scarce first American edition of this important book about the last African expedition conducted by Scottish explorer of West Africa, Mungo Park (1771- 1806). After his first successful exploration of the upper Niger River around 1796, he wrote a popular and influential travel book titled Travels in the Interior Districts of Africa in which he theorized the Niger and Congo merged to become the same river. He was killed during a second expedition in 1806, having successfully traveled about two-thirds of the way down the Niger. Park's death meant the idea of a Niger-Congo merger remained unproven but it became the leading theory among geographers. The mystery of the Niger's course, which had been speculated about since the Ancient Greeks and was second only to the mystery of the Nile source, was not solved for another 25 years, in 1830, when it was discovered the Niger and Congo were in fact separate rivers [Wikipedia]. This book… Read More
Quantity: 1