| Sir Robert Hermann Schomburgk — Twelve Views in the Interior of Guiana. after sketches taken during the expedition. in. 1835 to 1839. |
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Twelve Views in the Interior of Guiana. after sketches taken during the expedition. in. 1835 to 1839. |
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Folio (20 4/8 x 14 inches). Letter-press title-page, dedication to the Duke of Devonshire with his arms printed in gilt, two-page subscribers' list at end (preliminaries spotted, light intermittent spotting throughout). Hand-colored additional lithographed title-page featuring the giant Victoria Regia waterlily, by M. Gauci after Charles Bentley, printed by P. Gauci (browned and spotted), and 12 hand-colored lithographed views by George Barnard, Coke Smyth and P. Gauci after Charles Bentley, printed by Gauci and Charles Hullmandel (some occasionally heavy spotting), 12 wood-engraved illustrations by G. P. Nicholls after Charles Blunt, the views all after original sketches by John Morrison, one engraved map by John Murray, hand-colored in outline in red and blue (spotted). Original pictorial paper board front cover (worn), mounted in modern leatherette. A coloured copy of the first edition, published at 2/12/6d uncolored and 4 guineas colored. Under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society Schomburgk explored the Essequibo, Corentyn, Orinoc, and Berbice rivers in equatorial America during 1835-1839, becoming the first European to reach the sources of the Essequibo. During his explorations he built on the observations of his fellow countryman, Humboldt, which enabled him to determine astronomically fixed points across the watershed of these great rivers. Earlier, in 1837 he discovered and sent back to England the giant water lily "Victoria regia" now named "Victoria amazonica". As a result the RGS awarded him a Gold medal in 1840. Although the waterlily had been described before, it had not been named or seen in Europe, where it caused a sensation. A genteel race began to get the plant to bloom, between some of the great gardens: a race eventually won in 1851, using a specially constructed water tank, by the Duke of Devonshire, to whom this book is dedicated. In 1840, on his return to Europe, Schomburgk wrote "A Description of British Guiana, Geographical and Statistical", which was in its original form a report to the Colonial Office and is the first detailed account of the colony, and represented to the British government the necessity of settling the actual boundary of British Guiana, " for commercial and humanitarian reasons. He had witnessed the forcible abduction by Brazilians of Amerindians from what he later declared to be British territory and wished to ensure the native peoples' safety from such practice. In April 1840 he was appointed a commissioner for surveying and marking out the boundaries of the colony" (DNB). The border he suggested between Venezuela and British Guiana, the so-called "Schomburgk line", was adopted by the British Government, and he was knighted for his work in 1844. Abbey Travel, 720; Sabin 77796; Tooley 447. |
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