An archive of material relating to C. Wellington Furlong's 1930 big-game hunting expedition to British East Africa, as described below.
For the lot of approximately 250 items, $6000. Item #50306
(a) Correspondence with various government officials, hunting guides, and others involved with preparing and carrying out the trip, including14 letters to Furlong, typed and autograph, one accompanied by four photographs of members of the expedition with trophies; five retained copies of letters from Furlong to the correspondents, four telegrams, seven typed and manuscript recapitulations of various aspects of the trip (e.g., titles for the "Dance of the Nandi" film), and a three page typed press release on the expedition, dated Nairobi, 27 March 1930, accompanied by a photograph of Furlong and two bearers with a leopard he has killed.
(b) Two hunting licenses issued by the Uganda Protectorate to Furlong, 22 April 1930, one "For a First Elephant," the other a "Visitor's (Full) Game License."
(c) Three maps (period road map of Kenya and Uganda, published by Bullows and Roy for the Royal East Africa Automobile Assn.; Map Showing Cairo-Mombasa Route, published by the Sudan Survey Dept, Khartoum, 1929; and a period National Geographic Society map of Africa).
(d) An account book (narrow 12mo, 19 pp., 22 March - 8 June, 1930) and approximately 125 receipts, most partly printed, for a wide range of services and material necessary for the trip.
(e) 21 photographs (in addition to those mentioned above), many picturing Furlong in the field with his rifle and trophies, some with Furlong's notations on verso, and 34 unused photo postcards, featuring tribesmen, animals, and scenery of East Africa.
(f) 42 promotional pamphlets, ca. 1925-1934, for the various parts of Africa along Furlong's route, 36 of which are unrecorded on OCLC. The pamphlets were issued by African railway companies and governmental agencies, outfitters (e.g., Thomas Cook and "Safari Africa Limited," London), ship lines and other travel agencies, and taxidermy concerns.
(g) A wooden carved string instrument from the Para Mountains (in present day Tanzania), with Furlong's ownership label, "Col. Wellington Furlong / c/o Safariland Ltd. / Musical Instrument / Para Mountains," still attached; the instrument is shaped like a hollowed-out bread tray, 27 x 7 1/2 inches, three holes in the shape of crosses in the bottom, six strings stretched across the opening.
Furlong (1874-1967; American explorer, army officer, author, artist, and photographer) embarked on this big game expedition in 1930 partly as an effort to recover relics of Sir Henry M Stanley in East and Central Africa. Gateway to the Sahara (New York, 1909 is among several books he published. A member of the Explorers Club, he was the first American to explore the interior of Tierra del Fuego (1907-1908). Most of his personal papers are held by the Stefansson Collection at Dartmouth.
Price: $3,750.00