“in the Years 1809 and 1810; in which are Included, An Account of the Portuguese Settlements on the East Coast of Africa, Visited in the Course of the Voyage; a Concise Narrative of Late Events in Arabia Felix; and Some Particulars Respecting the Aboriginal African Tribes, Extending from Mosambique to the Borders of Egypt; together with Vocabularies of their Respective Languages.”

Large heavy 4to (31x25 cm), half calf, chafed and rubbed. Rebacked preserving most of the original spine, marbled endpapers. xi, (4), 506, lxxv pages, bound without half title. Complete with 2 engraved vignettes, 27 copper engravings and 8 (on 7 leaves, 1 coloured) large folding maps. Text leaves generally clean, plate leaves on thick paper with some offsetting and scattered browing/spotting, mainly in the margins of the illustrations. Large map with closed tear.

Salt, an artist, went to Ethiopia in 1809 on a government mission to develop trade and diplomatic links with the Ethiopian Emperor. Upon arrival, he was unable to meet with the king due to unrest in the country, so instead he went to stay with his friend the Ras Wolde Selassie. During this venture, Salt took on the side mission of verifying and correcting the information about the region reported by the Scottish traveller James Bruce earlier. Salt came back to England in 1811 with numerous specimens of both plants and animals. The beautiful engravings are made from his own sketches.