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1790. Hardcover. Fine set in original polished calf with lighttly decorated spine and maroon labels, gilt panels on boards & inner dentelles and marbled endpapers and edges.First edition. Five volumes. Vol.1, lxxxiii, 535pp ; Vol. II, viii, 718pp ; Vol. III, viii, 759pp ; Vol. IV, viii, 695pp ; Vol. V, xiv, 230pp, index, errata page. 3 large folding maps & 58 plates (includidng 43 natural history specimens in Vol. V) . Following Harrow, unfinished law studies and a brief marriiage,Bruce travelled to Spain, wheree, for a short time, he studied Arabic. On his return to England, he came to the notice of Lord Halifax who offered him the consulate at Algiers, a post which required a great deal of courage and diplomacy. Since part of his remit was to survey the ancient monuments not delienated by Shaw, Bruce spent some time in Italy before travelling to Algiers in 1763. His time in Algiers was troubled by the erratic behaviour of the Dey, whose actions finally prompted Bruce's resignation in 1765. The archeological tour which he ssubsequently made along the Barbary Coast, prompted his trip to Egypt in 1768 which began the journey narrated in these volumes. In that year he travelled up the Nile as far as Aswan, visiting the ruins at Luxor and Karnak, before sailing down the Red Sea, arriving in Abyssinia in the following year. It was from here he made his various expeditions to what he considered to be the source of the Blue Nile (it was in fact merely one of its great tributaries). While in Abyssinia, he claims to have been made a district governor (a fact later disputed by Henry Salt) and due to the unstable political climate his life was often in danger. However, in 1773 he was eager to return to England where he felt he would be amply rewarded for his African exploits. London Society however found Bruce's exploits too vivid and his manner awkward, prompting Fanny Burney to writes "Mr. Bruce's grand air, gigantic height and forbidding brow awed everybody into silence". Seller Inventory # KTK0099904
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