Johnson, Martin / [Osa Johnson].

Over African Jungles – The Record from Pen and Camera of a Glorious Adventure over the Big Game Country of Africa, 60,000 Miles by Aeroplane.

London, Harrap, no year (c.1935). 14 cm x 21.5 cm. Frontispiece, 250 pages. 100 illustrations. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear. Spine is faded. Binding still firm and strong. Interior bright and clean, with occasional spotting. Preowner’s name on front pastedown.

On their fifth African trip, from 1933 to 1934, the Johnsons flew the length of Africa getting now classic aerial scenes of large herds of elephants, giraffes, and other animals moving across the plains of Africa. They were the first pilots to fly over Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Kenya in Africa and film them from the air. The 1935 feature film Baboona was made from this footage.

In the first half of the 20th century an American couple from Kansas named Martin Elmer Johnson (1884-1937) and Osa Helen Johnson (1894-1953) captured the public’s imagination through their films and books of adventure in exotic, far-away lands. Photographers, explorers, naturalists, aviators and best-selling authors, Martin and Osa studied the wildlife and peoples of East and Central Africa, the South Pacific Islands, and British North Borneo. They explored then unknown lands and, through their films, writings, and lectures, brought back knowledge of cultures thousands of miles away.
From 1917 to 1936, the Johnsons set up camp in some of the most remote areas of the world and provided an unmatched photographic record of the wildernesses of Kenya, the Congo, British North Borneo and the Solomon and New Hebrides Islands. Their equipment was the most advanced motion picture apparatus of the day, some of it designed by Martin Johnson himself. They were also pioneers in the advancing aerial photography and filming. (Profile available from the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum website)

Martin Johnson died in a plane crash in California, on January 12, 1937. Osa was severely injured in the accident but made a full recovery. By October 1937, the New York Times was publishing dispatches of Osa’s latest trip to Africa, in which she described lifestyles and practices of the Maasai and other tribes. Osa is probably best known for her autobiography ‘I Married Adventure’, which was a best-seller in 1940. She died in New York City in 1953. (Wikipedia)

Their photographs represent one of the great contributions to the pictorial history of the world. Their films, such as “Jungle Adventures” (1921) “Simba: King of the Jungle” (1928) and “Baboona” (1935), served to document a wilderness that has long since vanished and tribal cultures and customs that no longer exist. (Profile available from the Martin and Osa Johnson Safari Museum website)

Television’s first wildlife series, Osa Johnson’s The Big Game Hunt a.k.a. The Big Game Hunt, premiered in 1952. The 26 half-hour episodes- introduced by Osa – were released by Explorers Pictures and primarily used Johnson film. (Wikipedia)

• Keywords: 1930s · Africa · Africa – Rare · Africa, British East · Africa, British Southern · Africa, East · Africa, Southern · African Cultures · African Elephants · Africana Collection of Rare Books · Aircraft · Airplanes · American Author(s) · American People · Aviation · Aviation History · British East Africa · Documentary · Documentary Film · Documentary Film-making · Film · Film & TV Rare · Flight · Inanna Modern – Photography Books · Nature · Nature Photography · Nature Writing · Photobooks · Photograph · Photographers · Photography – Rare · Travel · Travel & Expedition – Rare · Travel Africa – Rare · Travel and Adventure · Travel Journal · Travel Photography · Travel Writing · Travellers · Travelling Authors · Wildlife
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 120129AB

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