Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Burton, Richard F. ; James M'Queen. The Nile Basin. Tinsley Brothers, London, 1864.
Price: US$300.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Maps missing, as is the case for nearly all available copies. Bound in publisher's pebbled brown cloth. Binding has been repaired and the spine is much newer than the boards which are original. Endpapers original, but for the repairs. This book is divided into 3 parts - the first 30 pages are a Prefatory by Burton, the second 35 are Lake Tanganykia also by Burton, and the last 127 pages are a review of Speke's Discovery of the Source of the Nile by M'Queen. Burton's portion of the book is a defense of his claim that Lake Tanganyika was the source of the Nile, it is also an attack on Speke's claim that Lake Victoria was the source. Burton was a much better writer, speaker, and scientist than Speke and the two were scheduled to debate the topic on September 16, 1864. Speke died on the 15th, perhaps by suicide. We now know that Speke was correct and Burton wrong. Speke's portion of this book is an enlargement of a Memoir he read before the Royal Geographical Society on November 14, 1864. The portion by M'Queen is a very harsh review of Speke's book Discovery of the Source of the Nile. Penzer tells us this book was scarce when he wrote in 1923. Much info on the Burton/Speke falling out in Howgego. Corners bumped and rubbed with loss of cloth, especially to upper front corner. Boards a bit faded and soiled. Previous owner name on front pastedown. Ships same or next business day well protected in a box. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 195 pages
Seller: Good Books In The Woods, Spring, TX, U.S.A.
Price: US$377.85 + shipping
Description: First edition, 8vo., pp.iv,195, lacking the 3 b/w maps but with facsimiles of each bound in, professionally recased preserving the publisher?s decorative maroon cloth, gilt; bookplate to front pastedown endpaper, very light foxing to free endpapers and half-title, lightly rubbed, otherwise a very good copy.
Seller: Minster Gate Bookshop (est. 1970), YORK, United Kingdom
Burton, Richard. The Nile Basin. Tinsley Brothers, London, 1864.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Part 1 showing Tanganyika to be Ptolemy's western lake reservoir by Richard Burton and Part 2 Captain Speke's DIscovery of the Source of the Nile by James McQueen. Penzer p 74, 75. First ed. Very scarce. LACKS THE MAPS (which are considered rare and lacking in a majority of copies). First ed bound in purple brown cloth with triple line border on covers. Little better than a VG copy.
Seller: Trophy Room Books, Agoura, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$1729.17 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Good, 1st ed, 1864, 3 maps, with the 4 pages of adverts. In the original burgundy embossed cloth, corners & edges lightly bumped & worn. Spine, gilt titles, edges repaired, worn a little along the joints. Internally, [2], [3], (iv) only, [1], 6-65, [1], 2 maps, [1], 68-195, [1], 1 map, [4] adverts, original endpapers, pencil name to verso fep, lacks half title, a few light marks, edges uncut, printed by Bradbury and Evans, Whitefriars, London. (Penzer p74. Casada 49. Alibone 261). Title continues: pt. 1. Showing Tanganyika to be Ptolemy's western lake reservoir : a memoir read before the Royal Geographical Society, November 14, 1864 ; with prefatory remarks / by Richard F. Burton -- pt. 2. Captain Speke's discovery of the source of the Nile : a review / by James M'Queen (reprinted by permission from the Morning advertiser). "The melancholy event of September 15th, 1864, which cast a gloom over our meetings at the pleasant "Bath Association," precludes the possibility of my entering into any questions of a private or a personal nature. It would, of course, have been far more congenial to my feelings to have met Captain Speke upon the platform, and to have argued out the affair before the scientific body then assembled. I went down fairly to seek this contest on September 13th. The day for the discussion was appointed for September 16th. Some hundreds of persons were assembled in the rooms of Section E, and when I appeared there it was only to hear that my quondam friend and Nile rival had on the previous afternoon lost his life by the merest accident. I had seen him at 13.0 P.M.; at 4 P.M. he was a corpse."
Seller: Madoc Books (ABA-ILAB), Llandudno, CONWY, United Kingdom
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Edition, First Printing with the 3 maps present in volume 1. A wonderful copy bound in the publisher's purple-brown cloth with minor repair to the spine. The binding is tight with NO cocking or leaning and the boards are crisp. The original endpapers are present and the pages are clean. There is NO writing, marks or bookplates in the books. A lovely copy in collector's condition.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$3125.00 + shipping
Description: First edition, 8vo, pp. [4], iv, [5]-195, [1], 4 (ads); 3 maps; contemporary half green morocco over marbled boards, unlettered spine; scuffed and rubbed; good and sound. Part I, which constitutes Burton's portion, contains 2 maps and terminates on p. 65. Penzer, p. 74: "Good copies are scarce." Casada 49: This two-part work also included James McQueen's scathing attack of John Speke through a lengthy review of the latter's Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile . The work, which exudes venom, was the heart of Burton's frontal attack on Speke's geographical theories."
Seller: Rulon-Miller Books (ABAA / ILAB), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Price: US$3202.16 + shipping
Description: 8vo, pp. [4], 195, [1 blank], with 3 maps; a little foxing at end; very good in original maroon cloth, covers stamped in blind, spine lettered in gilt, yellow endpapers; spine slightly sunned, a little wear to extremities, a few small marks to boards, hinges neatly reinforced; partly erased ink inscription dated 1870 to head of half-title, embossed blind stamp of W.H. Smith & Son library to front free endpaper, bookseller's ink stamp to front pastedown.First edition, complete with the three maps. This work, 'which absolutely exudes venom, was the heart of Burton's frontal attack on Speke's geographical theories. Burton dedicated it, with a marked degree of sarcasm, to "those kind friends, especially to those members of the Royal Geographical Society, who have aided and encouraged me to come forward with this statement"' (Casada). The second part comprises 'James MacQueen's scathing attack on John Speke through a lengthy review of the latter's Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the Nile' (id.).Francis Galton's 1864 review of The Nile Basin for The Reader (vol. IV, p. 728) suggests that Burton and MacQueen are far too harsh in their criticisms of Speke.Casada 49; Penzer pp. 74-75.
Seller: Bernard Quaritch Ltd ABA ILAB, London, United Kingdom