1884 Boy Travellers Central Africa Thomas W Knox Harper\'s Illustrated HC 1st For Sale

A beautifully designed Victorian publisher\'s cloth binding featuring elaborate gilt, black, and red pictorial stamping. The front cover depicts an elephant and African hunters, while the spine features a striking lion\'s head and safari motifs. The rear cover carries an attractive spear and harp design. An excellent example of late 19th-century decorative American bookbinding.

Filled with numerous engraved illustrations and a full-color frontispiece, this volume chronicles the adventures of two young travelers exploring Central Africa during the great era of Victorian exploration. Written for young readers, it blends geography, natural history, adventure, and contemporary accounts of African cultures and wildlife.

• First Edition, 1884
• Published by Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square, New York
• Original decorated publisher\'s cloth binding
• Color frontispiece
• Numerous black-and-white engraved illustrations throughout
• Gilt page edges absent (as issued on this edition)
• A classic Victorian juvenile adventure and travel book

Very attractive overall.

• Tight binding with clean, bright pages.
• Light rubbing and bumping at the spine ends and corners.
• Minor shelf wear consistent with age.
• Covers remain unusually vibrant with strong gilt decoration.
• No loose pages noted.

A wonderful display copy of one of the most visually appealing volumes in Thomas W. Knox\'s celebrated travel series.

Published in 1884, this book appeared during the height of the Victorian fascination with African exploration, only a few years after the expeditions of Henry Morton Stanley and during the period leading into the \"Scramble for Africa.\" Knox sought to educate young readers about distant parts of the world through engaging adventure stories illustrated with detailed engravings.