ACROSS EAST AFRICAN GLACIERS. AN ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST ASCENT OF KILIMANJARO. Translated From the German by E.H.S. Calder

London: George Philip & Son, 1891. First edition. With the publisher’s very rare announcement slipped in. 19 illustrations in the text, 12 photogravures, frontispiece chromolithograph in colours, 8 tipped-in photographs, and three colour fold-out maps. 4to, publisher’s very handsome original olive green cloth lettered in gilt on the spine and decorated on the upper cover in gilt and with overall pictorial representations of the mountain and indigenous peoples silhouetted in colours, the spine with colour decorations and pictorial silhouette of climbing equipment, t.e.g. others uncut. xx, 404 pp. A very bright, handsome, very pleasing and sound copy of this important and quite scarce book. Only very minimal evidence of age, the cloth in unusually nice condition, the hinges strong and tight, text very bright and clean and with very little mellowing, plates and maps all in good order. An unusually nice copy. IMPORTANT AND RARE FIRST EDITION OF THIS HIGHLY PRIZED BOOK. One of the most important books on mountaineering in Africa. Kilimanjaro stands over 18,000 ft and has two peaks---Kibo and Mawenzi. This book documents the first successful ascent of Kibo peak, the highest peak in all of Africa. This book is exceedingly rare in condition such as our copy and one of the most sought after books on mountaineering. It is greatly sought after in the African oeuvre.
In 1887, during his first attempt to climb Kilimanjaro, Meyer reached the base of Kibo, but was forced to turn back. He did not have the equipment necessary to handle the deep snow and ice on Kibo. The following year, Meyer planned another attempt with cartographer Oscar Baumann, but the mission was aborted due to consequences stemming from the Abushiri Revolt.
In 1889 Meyer returned to Kilimanjaro with the celebrated Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller for a third attempt at Kibo peak, they reached the summit on the southern rim of the crater on Purtscheller's 40th birthday, October 6, 1889. Meyer named this summit - now known as Uhuru Point- "Kaiser Wilhelm Spitze". The summit of Kibo wouldn't be climbed again until 20 years later.