1805 Mungo Park - ORIGINAL LETTER ARCHIVE - Africa Start Price USD 2,950.00 Current Price USD 2,950.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Thursday, October 30, 2008 End Time Saturday, November 29, 2008 Location North of Seattle See more about '1805 Mungo Park - ORIGINAL LETTER ARCHIVE - Africa' Description 1       1.888.656.2006   or   1.604.922.2444       questions@voyager-press.com Search by Topic Africa America - North America -South Arabia - Middle East Arctic - Antarctic Asia - Central Asia - China & Japan Asia - Southeast Australia & Pacific Bibliographies Europe Globes Graphic Arts Literature Maps & Prints Mountaineering Natural History Russia Sciences Signed & Inscribed Sir Richard F. Burton     PARK, Mungo Manuscript Letter Archive documenting the Search for Mungo Park along the Niger in West Africa - Together with a Map and Portrait. 4 letters, 7 pages, map and portrait, written in Africa 1805 - 1810. Very good to near fine condition. The African Association of London's previous four expeditions to explore the Niger river had failed by the time they charged Mungo Park, a Scotsman, with the commission to explore the Gambia, Senegal, and Niger rivers in 1795. He covered well over 100 miles before he fell ill in 1797 and returned back to England. He returned to Africa in 1805 to search for the source of the Niger in a canoe. He met great hardships both on the river and with the natives which eventually cost him his own life and the life of his men. Park's last letter to Sir Joseph Bank's was dated Sansanding, November 16th, 1805. The fate of Mungo Park was never fully resolved. Early reports were contradictory so that in January 1810, Lt. Col. Maxwell, then Governor of Senegal and later Governor of Sierra Leone, engaged Isaaco to return to the Interior so search for evidence of Park. Isaaco returned in September 1811 after having met Park's guide, Amadi Fatouma. Their narratives, translated from the Arabic, were also published Mungo Park's last book 'Journal of a Mission to the Interior of Africa in the Year 1805: together with Other Documents, Official and Private Relating to the same Mission'. This series of letters - which relate directly to and can each be corroborated by the narrative in the book - most likely stem from British Colonial sources. They cover the time after Isaaco's dispatch to look for Park's expedition and his return in 1811 with the sad news that Park and his men had drowned. The letters clearly show the confusion over Park's whereabouts, the numerous sightings reported at the time, and the eagerness with which everyone wanted to believe that Park was safe. As such they afford a fascinating and contemporary glimpse into the final, dramatic chapter of one of the great Africa Expeditions. Scarce and Unique! Letter 1 Manuscript Letter from Mungo Park to Sir Joseph Banks KB, dated Sansanding, November 16th, 1805. Large 4to sheet , 1 ½ pages, near fine condition. Park writes ' My Dear Friend...I ...avail myself of the opportunity of informing you how I have succeeded in this enterprise. It is my intention to keep to the middle of the river and make the best use I can of winds and currents till I reach the termination of this mysterious stream....I expect we shall reach the sea in three months from this...With best wishes, etc, etc. Mungo Park" Letter 2 and 3 (on 1 sheet) Manuscript Letter dated Sierra Leone, March 14, 1810, to the Editor of the Sierra Leone Gazette, 4to, 2 pages, near fine condition, reporting on his findings regarding Mungo Park's fate, obtained 'from a Mahomedan, whom I met at Goree and who had acted as a guide to Mr. Park from the time of his landing in the Continent of Africa till his embarkation on the Niger' The letter states that 'the report of his being assassinated...was untrue'. There is a further letter on the same sheet, by the brother of Mungo Park, stating that 'Mr. Macaulay, Secretary of the African Institution, informed me that the accompanying [letter] was sent by...and that the Secretary is of the opinion that this is the same person who had been examined and dispatched in quest of my brother by Lt. Col. Maxwell. 'The letter further comments on the many inaccuracies and Park's 'determination not to proceed by night unless the weather was fine & the country uninteresting'. Letter 4 Manuscript Letter dated 6 July 1810 from Colonel Maxwell, then Governor of Senegal, 4to, 2 pages, near fine condition, reporting on sightings of Mr. Park ' have received confirmation from Goree that Mr. La Porte...has met...who informed him that a month before he had seen Mr. Mungo Park in a village...that he was very well but alone and that he intended to return to the coast by Galam to Senegal'. The letter goes on for 2 pages about details of the sighting and speculates as to Park's safe return. Commentary These 4 handwritten manuscript letters are contemporary to the search for Park' expedition and comprise 7 pages of handwritten correspondence. As has been customary in those days, letters were usually hand copied before dispatch so that a permanent record could be kept. This copying was either done by the writer himself or, in the case of Government matters, by a scribe or Secretary. For instance, Richard Burton. kept a handwritten copy of all his letters regarding his East Africa Expedition, which is preserved today as his 'East African Letterbook' - a permanent and continuous record of this expedition. The two letters from Maxwell dated 1810, the letter by Mungo Park's brother as well as the letter by Mungo Park himself dated 1805, (which is his last letter from Africa) are most likely record or file copies; nevertheless they are contemporary to the final months of the expedition. Park would have either copied the 1805 letter himself for his files in which case it would unlikely have survived the capsizing of the boat at the Boussa Rapids. Alternatively, this letter was copied by some British Official prior to dispatch. The letter has been reprinted in the 1815 book on page lxxviii.   Powered by eBay Turbo ListerThe free listing tool. List your items fast and easy and manage your active items. Place a Bid!