CAILLIÉ (René). Journal d'un voyage à Temboctou et à Jenné, dans l'Afrique centrale, précédé d'observations faites chez les maures braknas, les nalous et d'autres peuples; pendant les années 1824, 1825, 1826, 1827, 1828. Paris : printed by authorization of the king at the royal printing house, 1830. - 3 volumes in-8, 215 x 135, and one volume of atlas in-4, 308 x 245: portrait, (2 ff.), XII, 475 pp., printed cover; 12 pp. of cat., (2 ff.), 426 pp., printed cover; (2 ff.), 404 pp., (1 f.), printed cover; 3 plates, 1 map, printed cover, for the Atlas. Orange buff, ornate ribbed spine for the text volumes, smooth spine for the atlas, author's name and title gilt on the first cover of the atlas, untrimmed, cover and spine preserved (modern binding). Chadenat, n° 537 - En français dans le texte, n° 243. First edition of this important work, giving the first description of Timbuktu, a city then forbidden to non-Muslims and therefore mysterious. The Société de Géographie created a prize for the first European to return from this city. The prize was awarded to explorer René Caillié (1799-1838), who used subterfuge to reach the city. After learning Arabic and initiating himself into Islam, he passed himself off as an Egyptian kidnapped by Bonaparte's French, who wanted to rejoin his family. He returned to the city in 1828, and was the first European to emerge alive. "By returning from Timbuktu, René Caillié robbed England of the glory of this discovery, and a lone Frenchman achieved the goal pursued since 1788 by the powerful African Association" (Gérald Duverdier, in: En français dans le texte, p. 236). The seriousness and relevance of this report are confirmed in the work by the Remarques et recherches géographiques sur le voyage de M. Caillié dans l'Afrique centrale by Edme-François Jomard (1777-1862), President of the Société de Géographie, which can be found at the end of the third volume, and which give real scientific weight to the account. The illustrations consist of a portrait of the author on the frontispiece of the first volume and 5 plates spread over 3 leaves, one of which depicts the first view of part of the city of Timbuktu. These 5 plates are combined in the atlas, which also includes a large fold-out map by Jomard, dated 1829, showing the itinerary of Caillié's journey to Jenné and Timbuktu. Copy bound in modern buffalo skin. Covers restored. Occasional heavy foxing.