CHIEFS AND CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA, OLIVE MACLEOD, , IN SOUTH AFRICA

TITLE........................: CHIEFS AND CITIES OF CENTRAL AFRICA  SUBTITLE..................: ACROSS LAKE CHAD BY WAY OF BRITISH, FRENCH AND GERMAN TERRITORIES  AUTHOR...................: OLIVE MACLEOD  PUBLISHER...............: WM. BLACKWOOD & SONS, EDINBURGH & LONDON  DATE & EDITION.......:st  COVER SIZE (mm)....: 160 x 250  CONDITION...............: fair - good  DUST JACKET...........: no  COVERS.....................: black boards, gilt title & decoration, age soil, bumped worn corners  SPINE.........................: with title, slight wear to extremities, sunned  END & FLY PAPERS.: good, adhesive strip on front fly, light foxing / spotting  PAGES.......................: 321pp including index, generally clean, light age soil  BINDING....................: tight  PLATES & MAPS.......: many b+w photo plates, 3 maps (one folding, coloured)  INSCRIPTIONS..........:  2 line gift inscription in ink inside front cover  1 line inscription in pencil ? lent by P. Lawrence? inside front cover  boxed h/s ?THIS IS THE PROPERTY OF THOMAS REGAMY? front fly + two more  SYNOPSIS, BLURB...:  The book is a record of the travels undertaken in and by the author and her friends, Mr and Mrs P A Talbot. Keen botanists, a list of the plants they collected is included as an appendix. The book is of particular interest because it is early enough to give an account of African life little affected by modernity, yet late enough to present an invaluable detailed and accurate photographic record.   A chronological account of the author's journeys with Mr. and Mrs. P.A. Talbot, the former of which was a District Commissioner of Southern Nigeria, as they progressed across Central Africa through countries under both French and German rule. Miss MacLeod relates in detail each stage of her trip, her chapter headings bearing consecutive dates between August and May . Written by a woman, this book is an unusual find in the normally male-dominated genre of Africana travel narratives. Olive MacLeod was the daughter of John Reginald and Lady Agnes MacLeod of MacLeod, and was the fiancée of Boyd Alexander who was killed in on the borders of Dar Fur.  Internally fresh & clean copy of this most elusive, desirable and scarce title.