The Land of the Midnight Sun. Summer and Winter Journeys through Sweden, Norway, Lapland and Northern Finland.
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1[881]. First edition. With 119 woodcut illustrations and a folding map in the back pocket of Volume I. A very good, bright copy. Blue-green cloth, pictorially stamped in brown and gilt. Two volumes, octavo. xvi, 441; xvi, 474 pp. Item #12777
Du Chaillu (1835-1903) was a French-born explorer, who eventually became a naturalized American. His father was a trader, and Du Chaillu spent his youth in Gabon, French Equatorial Africa. In 1852 he came to the United States, and secured the support of the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences for an exploring expedition to Central Africa. During the trip, he collected specimens of birds and other creatures. Upon his return, he wrote a number of books about Africa, most notably his account of his journey, Explorations and Adventures in Equatorial Africa (1861). In 1871 he went to Sweden and Norway, where he studied the people and institutions for over five years. Based upon his research, he wrote the present work, as well as The Viking Age (1889).
Price: $300.00