Travel
WEINTHAL, Leo.
The story of the Cape to Cairo railway and river route, from 1887 to 1922.
Pioneer Publishing Company, London n.d. (1923). 5 volumes (4 volumes text, 1 volume atlas), 4to., profusely illustrated throughout, including colour plates, photographic portraits, etc., many folding, atlas volume with index and 12 folding maps, vol 4 with 5 additional maps, half morocco gilt, spines ruled and lettered in gilt with gilt pictorial map of Africa in third compartment, a fine set.
Inscribed in volume 1 in pencil: "From Leo Weinthal to W.H.S." A luxurious production documenting the completion of the most important engineering project undertaken in Africa up until that time, a project that Rhodes had identified as being essential for the economic developement of South Africa. Vol.I: The Record and Romance of an Imperial Project. How it materialised to date and the story of its creators; Vol.II: The Main Line as it exists to-day from the Cape to the Nile Delta; Vol.III: Variations of the Main Trunk Route and its Feeder Lines in Existence or Projected. Africa's Native Tribes and Wild Game; Vol.IV: The Finance, Commerce and Industry of the Countries served by the route; Vol.V: Maps and Index. The list of contributors includes Sir Winston Churchill, Sir Francis Younghusband, Sir Harry Johnston, Theodore Roosevelt, and F.C. Selous. The work has sections devoted to wildlife, mining, and the recent history of discoveries along the route, including the momentous journey of the Cambridge student, Ewart Grogan, whose pioneering traverse of the Cape to Cairo route was a source of keen amusement and interest to Rhodes, who saw in the feat a sign of the future fulfilment of his great scheme for linking north and south Africa together by railway and telegraph.
Price: £ 2000
US Dollar Price: $ 3970
Stock Number: 77441