The Nile Tributaries of Abyssinia, and the Sword Hunters of the Hamran Arabs.

London: Macmillan and Co.,, 1867. From the library of Scottish explorer James Lamont First edition of Baker's second account of the 1861-5 Nile expedition, "a classic of exploration and big game hunting" (Czech), expanding on The Albert N'yanza, published the previous year. The Nile Tributaries describes the 14 months Baker spent exploring Abyssinia between April 1861 and June 1862. He established his headquarters at Sofi and spent five months travelling the Setit, one of its tributaries, stalking giraffe, hippopotamus, elephant, baboon, lion, and buffalo, often in the company of the Hamran Arabs. He then continued along the Rehad to its confluence with the Blue Nile, travelling to Khartoum. "Sir Roderick Murchison, president of the Royal Geographical Society, acknowledged the importance of Baker's explorations and his discovery that the Nile sediment was due to the Abyssinian tributaries. Additionally, Baker gained experience as an African explorer, mastered Arabic, and learned to use the astronomical instruments which were vital for determining geographical locations" (ODNB). Provenance: with the armorial bookplate of the Arctic yachtsman James Lamont (1828-1913) on the front pastedown and his library label on the front free endpaper. Lamont sailed thousands of miles in Arctic waters, "recording his voyages in Seasons with the Sea-Horse (1861) and Yachting in the Arctic Seas (1876), both of which contain information about land and marine natural history and navigation, tides, currents, and meteorology" (ODNB). He, like Baker, had a prodigious taste for hunting. Though unmarked as such, this copy was previously in the stock of the legendary bookseller and collector Franklin Brooke-Hitching. The copy from his library, in the original cloth, was sold at Sotheby's in 2014. Large octavo (210 x 134 mm). Contemporary pale polished calf, spine with raised bands, black morocco spine label, elaborate gilt decoration in compartments, double gilt fillet frame on covers, marbled endpapers and edges. Engraved portrait frontispiece, 22 similar plates, 2 maps (one folding). Spine sunned, slightly scuffed with a few marks, offsetting from frontispiece, scattered foxing. A very good copy. Czech, p. 15; Howgego I B10; Ibrahim-Hilmy I, p. 50.