Richard F. Burton's "First Footsteps in East Africa", 1856 First Edition

Richard Burton

First Edition

Burton, Richard F. First Footsteps in East Africa; or, An Exploration of Harar. 1856. Published in 1856, this narrative records Burton’s expedition to Harar, a walled Muslim city in present-day Ethiopia that had long prohibited Christian entry and was widely believed to be inaccessible to Europeans. At a moment when British imperial interests and geographic knowledge of East Africa were expanding, Burton’s account provided one of the earliest sustained English-language descriptions of Somali territories and of Harar as a religious center and nexus within regional trade networks, including the slave trade. His journey, undertaken after earlier exploration with John Hanning Speke, culminated in his detention by the Amir of Harar and a violent attack that left Burton permanently scarred by a javelin wound. The work stands at the intersection of exploration, ethnography, imperial intelligence gathering, and nineteenth-century travel literature.

Burton, Richard F. First Footsteps in East Africa; or, An Exploration of Harar. London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1856. First edition. Octavo. 648 pages. Four chromolithographic plates and two maps. Half calf over marbled boards with raised bands and gilt compartments; marbled endpapers and edges; gilt stamp of New South Wales Parliamentary Library to front. Moderate rubbing to boards and joints with small losses to calf; spine crackling and minor loss to gilt; occasional foxing and spot-soiling; lacking one tissue guard; possibly lacking half-title. Text complete and sound. Overall condition very good.

Item #15841

Price: $1,850.00