William Cornwallis Harris
William Cornwallis Harris
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Harris was commissioned in the Bombay Engineers in 1823, promoted captain in 1834 and major in 1836.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:
'Harris, Sir William Cornwallis (bap. 1807, d. 1848), army officer and traveller, the son of James Harris of Wittersham, Kent, was baptized on 2 April 1807. Robert Harris (1809–1865) was a younger brother. After attending a military college Harris was appointed to the Bombay establishment (Engineers) in 1823. His commissions were: second lieutenant (18 December 1823), lieutenant (1 May 1824), captain (8 August 1834), and major (16 August 1843). He was appointed assistant superintending engineer at Bombay on 9 September 1825, and executive engineer at Khandesh in November 1825 and at Deesa in October 1830. In 1836 Harris was invalided to Cape Colony for two years by a medical board.
On the voyage to the Cape, Harris, who from a very early age had been keen on shooting, made the acquaintance of Richard Williamson of the Bombay civil establishment, a noted hunter, and the two arranged an expedition into the African interior in search of big game. After conferring with Dr Andrew Smith, the African naturalist, then just returned from the interior, Harris and his friend started by ox-wagon from Algoa Bay, by way of Somerset and the Orange River, and travelled in a north-easterly direction until they reached the regions of the formidable Matabele (Ndebele) chief Mzilikaze. He proved friendly, and permitted the travellers to return to the Cape by a new and previously closed route by summer of 1837.
Their absence from India extended from March 1835 to December 1837, and on his return to India Harris was appointed executive engineer at Belgaum in January 1838, and field engineer to the Sind force in December of the same year. In December 1840 he was made superintending engineer to the southern provinces, and in September 1841 was sent in charge of a mission to establish relations with the ancient Christian kingdom of Shoa in the highlands of Ethiopia. He returned to England with a commercial treaty with that state, and was knighted for his services (June 1844). Harris was highly regarded in his role as executive engineer at Dharwar Dion in 1846 and at Poona in February 1847, and on 5 February 1848 was appointed superintending engineer, northern provinces. He died of malignant fever at Surwur, near Poona, on 9 October 1848.
Harris submitted an account of his travels in southern Africa to the Royal Geographical Society, London, and the Geographical Society of Bombay. He published a further account, Wild Sports in South Africa (1841). Under the title 'Wild sports in South Africa, being a narrative…', the same work appeared in London in 1841. Harris, a competent artist, also published Portraits of the Game Animals of Southern Africa, Drawn from Life in their Natural Haunts (1840) and Highlands of Ethiopia: a Narrative of a Mission to the Kingdom of Shoa (1844). He also published papers in the Zoological Society's Transactions and Proceedings, the Linnean Society's Proceedings, and elsewhere.'
Harris journeyed to the Meritsane River where he encountered a herd of quaggas and brindled gnoos he estimated at 15,000 head. He bagged eland and was attacked by lion in the region. Crossing the Mariqua River, he hunted ostrich and white rhinoceros. Entering the Cashan Mountains, he collected elephant, the proceeded to the Limpopo Valley where he hunted buffalo and hippopotamus, with additional sport after giraffe, black rhinoceros, sable, and lion. Harris's work is valuable as it presents a detailed picture of the South African game fields prior to the growing pressure of civilization.
Howgego remarks that "Although primarily a hunting expedition, Harris covered much ground not seen before by Europeans, and on his way to the Vaal discovered the source of the Marique River, one of the head-waters of the Limpopo."
Harris' account of his hunting expedition is considered to be the first record of an African safari.
Harris' account of his hunting expedition is considered to be the first record of an African safari.
Narrative of an Expedition into Southern Africa, during the Years 1836, and 1837
Narrative of an Expedition into Southern Africa, during the Years 1836, and 1837
from the Cape of Good Hope, Through the Territories of the Chief Moselekatse, to the Tropic of Capricorn
from the Cape of Good Hope, Through the Territories of the Chief Moselekatse, to the Tropic of Capricorn
with a Sketch of the Recent Emigration of the Border Colonists
with a Sketch of the Recent Emigration of the Border Colonists
and a Zoological Appendix
Bombay : printed At the American Mission Press, 1838
Bombay : printed At the American Mission Press, 1838
Octavo. Lithographic frontispiece, and three other similar plates, folding lithographic map with some outline color, showing the movement of the Voortrekkers in the Great Trek.
The first issue of the first Bombay edition predates the first London edition (below) by a year. It appears there is also another issue of this Bombay edition, with nicer lithographic plates.
Below, for comparison, I include the two different styles of the 4 illustrations.
Below, for comparison, I include the two different styles of the 4 illustrations.
I suspect the difference in style is between the first and second issue of the Bombay 1838 edition.
I suspect the difference in style is between the first and second issue of the Bombay 1838 edition.
The plates with double line borders are the later issue format, as in the copy in the Strange Collection and as illustrated in Volume One of 'The Catalogue of Prints in The Africana Museum' by R.F. Kennedy, 1975.
The plates with double line borders are the later issue format, as in the copy in the Strange Collection and as illustrated in Volume One of 'The Catalogue of Prints in The Africana Museum' by R.F. Kennedy, 1975.
The Bombay 1838 edition map
The Bombay 1838 edition map
Below: another set of photos of the later issue illustrations (I found these on the Internet)
Below: another set of photos of the later issue illustrations (I found these on the Internet)
The Wild Sports of Southern Africa
The Wild Sports of Southern Africa
Being the Narrative of an Expedition from the Cape of Good Hope
Being the Narrative of an Expedition from the Cape of Good Hope
Through the Territories of the Chief Moselekatse to the Tropic of Capricorn
Through the Territories of the Chief Moselekatse to the Tropic of Capricorn
London : John Murray, 1839
London : John Murray, 1839
This is the 2nd edition overall, but the 1st edition published in London
This is the 2nd edition overall, but the 1st edition published in London
The copy shown below is the nicest copy I have ever seen, without foxing
The copy shown below is the nicest copy I have ever seen, without foxing
Some of the illustrations found in the 1839 copy of the London first edition
Some of the illustrations found in the 1839 copy of the London first edition
The map found at the end of the London first edition
The map found at the end of the London first edition
My copy of the 1839 British first edition has been sold to another collector
My copy of the 1839 British first edition has been sold to another collector
Portraits of the Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa
Portraits of the Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa
Delineated from life in their native haunts, during a hunting expedition from the Cape Colony as far as the Tropic of Capricorn in 1836 and 1837, with sketches of the field sports
Delineated from life in their native haunts, during a hunting expedition from the Cape Colony as far as the Tropic of Capricorn in 1836 and 1837, with sketches of the field sports
London : W. Pickering, 1840, 1st edition
London : W. Pickering, 1840, 1st edition
Folio (59 x 43 cm Abbey describes spacious margins), hand-colored lithographic title page (dated 1840 as is the printed title page), 30 fine hand-colored lithographic plates drawn on stone by Frank Howard, printed on large (Columbier) paper with the lithographed chapter tail pieces. List of subscribers.
Abbey (J.R.) Travel in Aquatint and Lithography 1779 – 1860, number 335, pages 287 – 290:
‘Published in five parts at £2. 2s. each part, on large (Columbier) paper, with tail-pieces, or at £1. 1s. each part of ordinary (Imperial) paper without tail-pieces. The book was finally published in volume form in 1843 at £10. 10s. (possibly in half Morocco) and £5. 5s. respectively.’
Mendelssohn(S.) South African Bibliography, volume 1, page 688-9:
‘One of the most important and valuable of the large folio works on South African fauna….. In addition to the beautiful coloured [illustrations] which render this work almost the most highly prized of the books relating to South African animals, every plate is accompanied by an exhaustive chapter upon the characteristics of the animal represented, as well as by a short sketch of its personal appearance.’
1840 originals of this book are very expensive and I do not own a copy, but I do own a beautiful facsimile reprint (see below)
Portraits of the Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa
Portraits of the Game and Wild Animals of Southern Africa
Delineated from life in their native haunts, during a hunting expedition from the Cape Colony as far as the Tropic of Capricorn in 1836 and 1837, with sketches of the field sports
Delineated from life in their native haunts, during a hunting expedition from the Cape Colony as far as the Tropic of Capricorn in 1836 and 1837, with sketches of the field sports
Rhodesia : Frank Read Press, Mazoe, 1976
Rhodesia : Frank Read Press, Mazoe, 1976
16-page introduction by Frank Bradlow, color title-page, map, 30 color plates, bound in quarter brown Rhodesian buffalo leather titled and decorated gilt on the spine, light green cloth sides with dyed-red edges
The undisputed highest-quality and most desirable of the reprints of the 1840 Harris' folio volume. The plates are reproduced to the actual size of the original and the text is reproduced in full together with all the chapter tailpieces. Frank Read founded his own private press in Mazoe in the 1960s and the production of the "Portraits of the Wild Animals" required that a new hand-fed flatbed lithographic press be specially built. This type of press was selected so that the color printing technique would approximate as closely as possible to the methods used in the original printing of 1840.
The Wild Sports of Southern Africa
The Wild Sports of Southern Africa
Being the Narrative of an Expedition from the Cape of Good Hope
Being the Narrative of an Expedition from the Cape of Good Hope
Through the Territories of the Chief Moselekatse to the Tropic of Capricorn
Through the Territories of the Chief Moselekatse to the Tropic of Capricorn
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions overall, are actually the 2nd, 3rd and 4th British editions (London)
The 3rd, 4th, and 5th editions overall, are actually the 2nd, 3rd and 4th British editions (London)
The 1841, 1844, and 1852 British editions are superior to the British 1839 first edition due to containing numerous color plates (the first edition has fewer plates, and none are colored)
The 1841, 1844, and 1852 British editions are superior to the British 1839 first edition due to containing numerous color plates (the first edition has fewer plates, and none are colored)
The 1841 edition seems to be the most uncommon, followed by the 1852 edition. Copies of the 1844 edition are most common.
The 1841 edition seems to be the most uncommon, followed by the 1852 edition. Copies of the 1844 edition are most common.
London : Pelham Richardson, 1841, 3rd edition (overall)
London : Pelham Richardson, 1841, 3rd edition (overall)
London : Pelham Richardson, 1844, 4th edition (overall)
London : Pelham Richardson, 1844, 4th edition (overall)
My copy of this rare edition is rebacked in the original red cloth binding, which is even more uncommon
My copy of this rare edition is rebacked in the original red cloth binding, which is even more uncommon
Frontispiece and illustrated title-page
Frontispiece and illustrated title-page
Second Title-Page
Second Title-Page
London : Henry G. Bohn, 1852, 5th edition (overall)
London : Henry G. Bohn, 1852, 5th edition (overall)
There are 2 variant cloth bindings (see below)
There are 2 variant cloth bindings (see below)
FOR SALE: ** SOLD **
FOR SALE: ** SOLD **
rebound copy of the London first edition, which is lacking 2 plates, though they are supplied in facsimile
rebound copy of the London first edition, which is lacking 2 plates, though they are supplied in facsimile
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