RAFFENEL, Anne - Lot 137

RAFFENEL, Anne Nouveau voyage dans le pays des nègres suivi d'études sur la colonie du Sénégal et de documents historiques, géographiques et scientifiques. Paris, imprimerie et librairie centrales des chemins de fer, 1856. 2 volumes large in-8 (234 x 153 mm) of 2 ff.n.ch., 512 pp., 12 woodcut plates (including the frontispiece) for volume I; 2 ff.n.ch., II, 456 pp., 8 woodcut plates (including the frontispiece), 1 large folding map, 1 folding profile plate for volume II. Red half-chagrin with corners, spine decorated, spotted edges (period binding). Gay, 2915; Brunet, 20869; Numa Broc, p. 275. First edition. Anne Raffenel (1809-1858), a naval clerk in Lorient in 1825, carried out two major missions to Africa, one in 1844, the next in 1847. "In 1847 the Ministry of the Navy entrusted Raffenel with the more ambitious mission of crossing the African continent from west to east, from Senegal to Egypt by the sources of the Nile... Accompanied by a young half-breed from Gorée, Léopold Panet, who serves as his secretary, Raffenel reaches the upper basin of the Senegal, travels through Kaarta on the right bank of the river, but is forbidden by El-Hadj Omar to enter the Niger" (Numa Broc). A fine copy despite some foxing, complete with the plates including the large map and the plan.