Sobre el lote Lote N° 130
Título : Weatherley (Captain Cecil Poulett) Manuscript Notebook Of Captain Cecil Poulett Weatherley (1860-1932), Of The Vigilant, Describing His Circumnavigation Of Lake Bangweolo, ÉPOCA : 1896
Procedencia : 'A THUNDERING CHAOS OF GREAT WAVES, HEAPED UP MASSES OF FOAM AND CLOUDS OF SPRAY': POULETT WEATHERLEY'S NOTES ON THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION OF LAKE BANWEOLO.
A distinguished and highly respected traveller, Captain Weatherley presented his paper on the 'Circumnavigation of Lake Banweolo' to the Royal Geographical Society in 1898, and an account of the evening was published in the
Geographical Journal (vol. XII), that same year. References in the present notebook to his return to the area in 1899 and an apology for losing his notes, would indicate that it was therefore completed in the early years of the twentieth century. Interspersed between the technical data, Weatherley's commentary adds much local colour and reveals a great understanding of and sympathy for the local people, something for which he was renowned. '...The natives in this part... have a love for names - no puddle, no scrap of mud, no tiny collection of reeds of papyrus is too insignificant... This plethora of names gave me much trouble...', he writes - '...The Wéna Kawendé are undoubtedly the best lot of natives on the coast... Their rightful Chief Kawongo is an extremely nice man in many ways but is unfortunately greatly addicted to the undue consumption of Wengura... or native beer...'. There is much on the practice of tattooing by various tribes - '...The Wéna Kawendé file both upper and lower front teeth into sharp points – they tattoo... a line of dots from below each ear to the shoulder and one down the nape of the neck... dots made by a needle (native, which is about twice as thick as a big darning needle... and charcoal rubbed in...' – with other observations such as the consumption of hemp '...the natives are all nerves and fit for nothing...', and evocative descriptions of the landscape - '...As the Vigilant was pushed through it, myriads of tiny bubbles rose up through the mud and exploded on reaching the surface with a hissing sound, emitting a vile stench...'. His sympathy for the locals does not, however, extend to his European predecessors with critical mention here of fellow-explorers Victor Giraud and Alfred Sharpe (whose findings he found '...perfectly inexplicable...').
In 1896 Weatherley visited the site of David Livingstone's memorial at Chitambo and it was as a result of his report on the decayed state of the tree marking the spot that forced the R.G.S. to remove the inscribed portion and erect an obelisk as a more lasting memorial (Desmond Clark, J.
David Livingstone Memorial at Chitambo's, online article). After his circumnavigation he spent much time in Africa and was noted hunting lions in the Serengeti with Prince Ladislas Radizwill in 1911. In 1914 he was said to be in German East Africa mapping for the British Government. His illustrated diaries of these journeys, Volume 1 (October 1889 to January 1899) and Volume 2 (June to July 1898 and January to March 1899) are held by the R.G.S. (ref. PWE), probably donated by his friend Leslie Sweet, who provided the steel boat, the
Vigilant, which enabled Weatherley to undertake his own journey, and who was present at the R.G.S. presentation in 1898.
The present notebook derives from the remains of the private library of Ferdinand Stephen Joelson (1893-1979), the bulk of whose collection was sold in these rooms, 19 January 1995. Joelson was a respected writer, broadcaster and publisher on African affairs, and was founder and, for 42 years, editor of the weekly newspaper
East Africa & Rhodesia. His papers are held at the Beinecke Library, Yale University (Gen. Mss 634), Rhodes House Library, Oxford and the Bodleian.
Provenance: Cecil Poulett Wetherley (1860-1932), Ferdinand Stephen Joelson (1893-1979) of Chetton Grange, Shropshire, and thence by descent to the present owner.Notas : This lot is subject to the following lot symbols:
BonhamsBonhams, subastador, London, UK
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Título de venta : Travel & Exploration
Fecha de la venta : 02/03/2022
🔓Sin tarjeta de crédito.
Referencia de la subasta : Live Sale
