Richard Nicklin Hall/W. G. Neal - The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia - 1902

A very RARE and uncommon book, first 1902 edition published by Methuen..."The Ancient Ruins of Rhodesia". The Ancient Monuments Protection Ordinance of 1902, protected ancient monuments and relics prior to 1800 but did not protect ancient workings. These workings were to be exploited under the 1895 Mines and Minerals Ordinance. Richard Nicklin Hall (1852-1914) was appointed as Curator of the Great Zimbabwe site and participated in the 1902 Great Zimbabwe Excavation. Hall declared that he wished to free the site "from the filth and decadence of the Kaffir occupation", deliberately removing anything that might link the site with the African peoples and clearing some twelve feet (1.8 m) of deposits in an operation that was described by a visiting archaeologist as "reckless blundering worse than anything I have ever seen". As a result, Hall was dismissed from his post."
Dark blue cloth with gilt title and motif to front, gilt title to spine, minor edge wear. Inside clean condition. Frontispiece + 35 further black & white photo illustrations and 13 maps and plans including large folding map (repaired along fold) in pocket to inside rear board. Exlinbrary book with signs: numbers on spine, scattered stamps not affecting illustrations or maps, sticker on front pastedown.
Rarity.