BRUCE (James). Voyage en Nubie et en Abyssinie,... Lot 18

BRUCE (James). Voyage en Nubie et en Abyssinie, entrepris pour découvrir les sources du Nil, Pendant les années 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 & 1773. Paris: Hôtel de Thou, 1790-1791. -5 volumes in-4, 252x200: (2 ff.), viij, lxxxiij, 620 pp. 15 plates, 1 map; (2 ff.), 784 pp. 1 map; (2 ff.), 858 pp. 4 plates; (2 ff.), 752 pp. 3 plates; (2 ff.), clxiij, 62 plates, 1 map. Havana shagreened basane, boards decorated with a roulette of three gilded fillets framing and in the center a large marbled basane piece edged with a cold foliate roulette, ornate smooth spine, red morocco title-piece, dark green morocco tomaison-piece and red morocco pastille for the number, yellow edges (period binding). First edition of the French translation by Jean-Henri Castéra (1749-1838). James Bruce spent 4 years scouring a large part of Ethiopia in search of the true sources of the Nile. He believed he had discovered them, but in fact it was only the Nile of Abyssinia, also known as the Blue Nile, Bah-rel-Azrek or Abaï, already described by his predecessors. When it was published, his account was shunned by the public, so much so that the facts described therein provoked doubt and bewilderment among unbelieving scholars and explorers. The veracity of his account was only belatedly recognized, thanks to the travelers Combes, Tamisier and Léon Delaborde, with the obvious exception of his discovery of the sources of the Nile. At the head of Volume 5 is the relation des Quatre voyages dans le pays des Hottentots et la Cafrerie, En 1777, 1778 & 1779, Par le Lieutenant William Paterson, also translated by Castéra. The illustration consists of 88 plates depicting scriptures, fauna, flora, costumes, antiquities and views of the countries visited, as well as 4 large folding maps. The last 19 plates, fold-outs, concern Paterson's travels. An attractive copy in contemporary binding. Some minor wear and tear, a few dull corners, one corner of the first volume missing. Light marginal spotting on the edges of a few leaves. Restored tear in upper margin of folio Xx4 of third volume. A few scattered freckles.