Subject: Africa

This book, originally published in Hanover, Germany in 1858, recounts the author's eight-year journey through Asia and Africa from 1846 to 1855. Written in German, the book includes a fold-out map and a list of subscribers. It details observations made during extensive travels, offering firsthand accounts of various locations. The book's veracity was initially questioned by some critics, but the author defended himself by presenting letters and other evidence to support his claims. Although some of the remarks demonstrate a lack of scientific method, the truthful and straightforward narrative has received praise from notable scholars like Humboldt, Petermann, and Richter. This copy has been professionally rebound.

This book recounts the true story of the American brig Commerce, wrecked on the western coast of Africa in August 1815. It details the subsequent enslavement of the surviving officers and crew by wandering Arabs, their experiences in captivity, and their eventual rescue. The narrative includes a copperplate engraving of a circumcision ceremony, considered one of the earliest depictions of this practice in an American book. Published by the author in Hartford, this edition may be a first edition, as it is not found in OCLC. The book also features an appendix with observations on Atlantic winds and currents, a proposed method for visiting Timbuktu, and an Arabic-English vocabulary.