Timbuktu from the Terrace of the Traveller's House, from 'Travels and Discoveries in the North...

Heinrich Barth (1821-1865) who wrote this book and upon whose sketches this work is based was one of the great 19th century explorers of Africa; This book, a work in 5 volumes, which the full title describes as 'being a journal of an expedition undertaken under the auspices of H.B.M.'s Government in the years 1849-1855' charts his travels and observations made during an expedition sponsored by the British Foreign Office; Timbuktu is a town in the west of Mali; The tower that can be seen on the skyline of this image is that of the Great, or Djinguereber, mosque that dates from 1327; The work was published by Longman, Brown, Green Longmans & Roberts;