PBA Galleries

xii, 383, [1] pp. With folding map  and 16 (of 17) hand-colored lithograph views. (4to) 27x20 cm. (10½x8"), half period calf and marbled boards, gilt spine with black morocco label lettered in gilt, marbled edges and endpapers. First Edition. 

George Francis Lyon (1795-1832) was a British naval captain, explorer and artist who in 1819, accompanied Joseph Ritchie on an expedition to chart the course of the Niger and to locate Timbuktu. The expedition left Tripoli in March 1819 and reached Murzuk a month later, where both Ritchie and Lyon took ill and Richie eventually died. Lyon continued, despite inhospitable temperatures, lack of financial resources, and under suspicion by the sultan, reaching the southern border of Fezzan before being forced to return to Tripoli. The handsome illustrations in this volume are after the originals by Lyon. The "Castle of Morzouk" plate appears as a frontispiece, rather than at p. 98 as listed in the contents. The folding map appears opposite p.1, and the "Arabs exercising" plate is not present. Abbey Travel 304