“GOLD THEY FOUND IN PLENTY…”: FIRST EDITION OF SIR RICHARD BURTON’S GOLD-MINES OF MIDIAN, 1878, HANDSOMELY BOUND

BURTON, Richard F. The Gold-Mines of Midian and the Ruined Midianite Cities. A Fortnight’s Tour in North-Western Arabia. London: C. Kegan Paul, 1878. Octavo, modern half burgundy morocco, raised bands, black morocco spine labels, marbled boards and endpapers, top edge gilt. $2800.

First edition of Burton’s celebrated narrative of his first expedition to the previously unexplored Midian region, handsomely bound.

While traveling in Suez, Burton “fell in with one of his old fellow-pilgrims, who awakened in his mind dreams of gold in Midian. Thither he proceeded at the end of 1877, with official support from the Khedive of Egypt. For months he conducted geological surveys in territory hitherto unexplored and infested by wild Bedawin [sic] tribes. The results seemed to promise success, but changes in the government frustrated Burton’s hopes. In the winter of 1881-2 he set out to the Gold Coast for gold in company with a younger African explorer, Captain Verney Lovett Cameron. Gold they found in plenty, though they brought back none for themselves” (DNB). The intense labor that produced the text for The Gold-Mines of Midian made Burton “something of a hero… the massive work was well received and ran through two editions the next year” (Rice, 433). With in-text illustrations, a color folding map of North-Western Arabia, and detailed appendices listing Captain Burton’s costs, supplies, and specimens of plants, insects and reptiles. Penzer, 95-96. Casada 38. Ex-library, with small library stamp to title page.

A fine, handsome copy.