Large folio. Publisher's full morocco, with beautiful gilt decoration to boards, title in gilt to spine, raised bands in gilt and separated into seven gilded compartments, title in the second compartment. All edges are gilt; some wear to the top and tail of the spine, all extremities, and the joints. Hand-coloured lithographic title leaf, (x) pages, 38 pages, one hand-coloured map, 12 hand-coloured lithographic plates. FIRST EDITION. Under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society, Schromburgk explored the Eseequibo, Corentyn, Orinoc, and Berbice Rivers in Equatorial America during 1835-1839, becoming the first European to reach the source of the Essequibo. During his explorations, he built on the observations of his fellow countrymen, Humbolt, which enabled him to determine astronomically fixed points across the watershed of these great rivers. Earlier, in 1837, he discovered and sent back to England the giant water lily "Victoria amazonica." As a result, the RGS awarded him a gold medal in 1840. In 1840, on his return to Europe, Schomburgk wrote "A Description of British Guiana, Geographical and Statistical," which was in its original form a report to the Colonial Office and is the first detailed account of the colony and represented to the British government the necessity of settling the actual boundary of British Guiana. This copy has the engraved and gilt dedication leaf to the Duke of Devonshire, the two-page subscriber's list, all twelve coloured plates, plus the map and coloured lithographic title leaf depicting two warriors standing beside the giant water lily "Victoria amazonica," and a calligraphic presentation leaf to Arthur Tidman, Foreign Secretary to the London Missionary Society "from the undersigned missionaries in Berbical," with their signatures. Minor scuffing to tips of binding, else very good. Coloured plates in order: 1. Frontispiece. (Map of Guyana to illustrate the route of R.H. Schomburgk Esqr 1840.) 2. The Comuti or Taquiare Rock on the River Essequibo. 3. Ataraipu or the Devil's Rock. 4. Pirara and Lake Amucu, the site of El Dorado. 5. Pure - Piapa. 6. Roraima, a remarkable Range of Sandstone Mountains in Guiana. 7. Purumama. 8. Junction of the Kundanama with the Paramu. 9. Esmeralda, on the Orinoco, site of the Spanish Mission. 10. Brazilian Fort St. Gabriel, on the Rio Negro. 11. Christmas Cataract, on the River Berbice. 12. Watu Ticaba a Wapisiana Village. 13. Caribi Village Anai, near the River Rupununi.