Knights errant of Papua. With introduction by Sir Hubert Murray. . . .

Item Details

Edinburgh & London, UK:, William Blackwood & Sons, Ltd.,, 1935., Hardcover

First Edition., G/G

8vo. xiv, 283, [1] pp. Photo frontisp. Dark blue publisher’s cloth, gilt lettering front cover & spine, map on front endpapers (minor bumping to spine, foxing & toning to fore-edges of textblock, occasional interior light foxing & toning), w/ d.j. cover art w/ initials of D.R.W. as artist (faint tidemark on back cover, minor chipping foot of spine), still G/G copy.

First edition of this memoir by Letts (1873-1967) detailing gold hunting expeditions into the New Guinea interior, the head-hunters, cannibals, and Indigenous Peoples quick with a bow and arrow, along with the service of the Indigenous Police Force. Although he began as a gold miner, and minerals surveyor, he converted to become a correspondent for Reuters, and was close friend with Sir Murray who allowed him unimpeded access to government records.