viii, [2], 195 pp. Illustrated with 3 folding maps. (8vo) 21.5x13 cm (8½x5"), rebacked with half calf and marbled boards, black leather spine label, raised bands, gilt spine decoration and lettering. First Edition.
Leaf containing Errata and "To the Binder" note immediately precedes page one. Bookplate of noted Princeton professor John Ralph Willis on front paste-down page. Green wax seal on heel of spine. After Mungo Park had shown that a large river (identified as the Niger of the ancients) flowed from west to east, various theories emerged to explain its course beyond Sansanding, where Park's report ended. One of the strangest theories came from Donkin who suggested that the Niger flowed into Lake Chad, then out of Lake Chad toward the north, disappearing under the desert in an underground stream that finally emerged in the Gulf of Sidra.
