Old-Time Hunting Client Books

These old time hunting client books were written by or about sportsmen who were among the first to come to Africa as paying hunting clients. Some were hunting as collectors for museums or to make films but they all needed the services the white hunters, whether or not they make much reference to the fact in their books.

Judy Aldrick

Northrup: The Life Of William Northrup McMillan by Judy Aldrick (2012) is a biography of American millionaire, William Northrup McMillan (1872 - 1925), who went to Kenya in 1904 on a shooting expedition. He fell in love with the country and bought a large estate and a mountain. Having explored and hunted in Sudan and Ethiopia, he decided his future lay in Kenya and he would help in opening up a completely new colony. During World War I, he became a British citizen and received a knighthood for his wartime services. Northrup's hunting ranch at Juja and his town house at Chiromo were known for lavish hospitality and helped set the fashion for safari tourism. He hosted Theodore Roosevelt in 1909. He worked with both Ewart Grogan and Lord Delamere and funded various African training schemes. This book contains completely new research on William Northrup McMillan and his wife Lucie, who have hitherto been shadowy characters in the history of colonial Kenya.

Thomas S Arbuthnot

Dr Thomas Shaw Arbuthnot (1871 - 1956) was a distinguished surgeon, the dean of Pittsburgh University Medical School, President of the Carnegie Heroes Fund and a keen African big game hunter.

Grand Safari by Thomas S Arbuthnot (1954) is an account from the days of the super safaris when the plains of Africa were crowded with game and when adventure was constant. A great 1927 safari in Tanganyika recounted with enthusiasm, humour and knowledge.

African Hunt: A Big-Game Safari In The Golden Days Of The African Hunter by Thomas S Arbuthnot (1954) is an account of his African big game safari in the golden days of the 1920s. It became an instant best-seller and remains a classic in hunting literature. Arbuthnot and his companions were guided by the Afrikaans brothers, Carl and Farnie Trichard. It was during a successful lion hunt, that Farnie Trichard was badly mauled by a leopard which was feeding close to the dead lion. He survived due to Dr Arbuthnot's prompt application of extra strong potassium permanganate into the many wounds. The story is also recounted in Capstick's 'Death In A Dark Continent'

Heroes Of Peace: A History Of The Carnegie Hero Fund Commission, Commemorating The One Hundredth Anniversary Of The Birth, On November 25th, 1835, Of Andrew Carnegie by Thomas S Arbuthnot (1935)

Colonel Charles Askins

Charles Askins (1907 - 1999) was an American lawman, US Army officer and writer. Throughout his military career, he also hunted big game at every opportunity and continued to do so after his retirement. He hunted in Africa as a young boy with Charles Cottar, making numerous more trips throughout his life.

The African Hunt by Charles Askins (1958) was written to assist the sportsman with his plans for his African hunt. The book provides advice (as of 1958) as to guns and guides and costs and game, when to go and how long to stay, what to take and what to leave and the hazards and fun.

Unrepentant Sinner: The Autobiography Of Colonel Charles Askins by Charles Askins (1985) chronicles the author's life as a Border Patrolman, World War II paratrooper, gunfighter and big game hunter.

Asian Jungle, African Bush by Charles Askins (1959) deals in a complete manner with both Asian and African big game hunting. Tropical adventures on two continents and valuable knowledge about arms and ammunition. In Africa, Askins' and his hunting partner George Parker, were guided by professional hunter, Tony Dyer who remained a great friend with both men. During Askins' hunting expeditions to South-east Asia, his guide was Nguyen-Van-Chi and the book opens with a chapter about him. Askins believed Nguyen-Van-Chi had killed more game each year than any other hunter during a lifetime.

Harry C Baldwin et al

Our Journey Through Africa by Harry C Baldwin et al (1953) is the very scarce private publication about the author's eight-week trip through the Belgian Congo, Uganda, Tanganyika and Kenya. He travelled with 3 companions - David Howe, John D Howe and Albert R Miller who are also credited as co-authors of this book. The hunting started in Tanganyika and Kenya. They took elephant, buffalo (including one stopped at 12 feet), rhino, lion and plenty of plains game. Hunting was mainly in Tanganyika and Kenya. Please check but this book may not be available.

Comyns Berkeley

Sir George Harold Arthur Comyns Berkeley (1865 - 1946) was a British obstetric and gynaecological surgeon who studied medicine at the Middlesex Hospital, London.

On Safari: A Chat To The Medical Society Of The Middlesex Hospital by Comyns Berkeley (1910) is a privately published account of his trip to British East Africa, primarily Uganda, after an assortment of plains game, including waterbuck and zebra.

Alfred E Bissell

Hunting In East Africa: 1925-1926 by Alfred E Bissell (1940) is the extremely scarce account of the author's hunt in Kenya with his companions Ostrom Enders and Rothwell Sheriff. They had embarked on a trip around the world after university which included an African big game hunt. The book was self-published because the author was nervous that his diary would disintegrate into dust and be thrown out when "spring housecleaning again claims the feminine attention." This book is currently unavailable.

Stephen J Bodio

Field And Forest: Classic Hunting Stories edited by Stephen J Bodio (2013) is a collection of some of the best hunting tales from the books by Theodore Roosevelt, Zane Grey, Ernest Seton Thompson, Grace Gallatin Seton-Thompson, Harold McCracken, Henry T Allen and Roy Chapman Andrews.

William D Boyce

William Dickson Boyce (1858 - 1929) was an American newspaper man, entrepreneur, magazine publisher and explorer. In 1909 he embarked a large hunting and photographic expedition to Africa with cartoonist John T McCutcheon, hoping to take aerial wildlife photographs from a balloon. His safari was led by William Judd.

Illustrated Africa: North, Tropical, South by William D Boyce (1925). Travel tales covering all areas of Africa from a travel writer and hunter, admittedly competing with Theodore Roosevelt's safari adventures.

Ellis Briggs

Ellis Ormsbee Briggs (1899 - 1976) was an American diplomat who served as Ambassador in seven different countries.

Shots Heard Around The World: An Ambassador's Hunting Adventures On Four Continents by Ellis Briggs (1957) is a light-hearted diplomatic memoir as the author recounts his off-duty hunting adventures in thirty years of State Department service in fifteen countries. His hunting in Africa took place in Liberia and Guinea.

O Carlyle Brock

The Brock Safari 1950 And The Brock Shakari 1952 by O Carlyle Brock (1953) is the record of the author's lengthy safari through Kenya and Somalia, hunting buffalo, lion, kudu and antelope. Lots of photos, not much text.

Edgar Beecher Bronson

Edgar Beecher Bronson (1856 - 1917) was a Nebraska rancher, a West Texas cattleman, an African big-game hunter, a serious photographer and an author of fiction and personal memoirs.

In Closed Territory by Edgar Beecher Bronson (1910). The author was an American friend of William Northrup McMillan and came to Africa in 1908, consequently writing this book on big game hunting having been led by George Outram and William Judd in the British East African Protectorate. During this safari Bronson met with John Alfred Jordan and recounts Jordan's tale of of the mysterious creature (Dingonek) he encountered by Lake Victoria. When asked, Bronson's own hunting party provided nearly identical descriptions of the creature.The title is reference to the author having been given special permission to hunt in the 'closed territory' of the Loita Masai, Kisii and Sotik. Free eBook

Virginia Brooks

Virginia Walton Brooks (1904 - 1997) was the wife of big game hunter, Berry Brooks and accompanied him on all his safaris.

Screed Of A Safari Scribe by Virginia Brooks (1947). The wife of Berry Brooks recounts the story of their 2 month safari in Kenya in 1947 (the first of 4 safaris) for the big five and plains game. They hunted with Donald Ker and Syd Downey. Later in the safari they went to Kenya's northern frontier district and hunted with Frank Bowman.

Berry Brooks (1902 - 1976) was the first American elected to the Hunting Hall of Fame. He collected 51 African trophies which were loaned then gifted to Pink Palace Museum, in Memphis, Tennessee. Read more about what became of the Berry Brooks' trophy collection and more about his hunting safaris in Kenya in 'Death In A Lonely Land' by Peter Hathaway Capstick.

The Brooks' 14 year old daughter, also named Virginia, hunted in Kenya with her father. She featured in the Sept 1947 issue of Life magazine and fell foul of the (more polite) anti-hunting brigade of the time.

C W L Bulpett

Charles William Lloyd Bulpett (1852 - 1939) was an English resident of Nairobi who acted as the general manager for William Northrup McMillan.

A Picnic Party In Wildest Africa: Being A Sketch Of A Winter's Trip To Some Of The Unknown Waters Of The Upper Nile by C W L Bulpett (1909). Charles Bulpett was a member of William Northrup McMillan's expedition through the Sudan and into Abyssinia led by Burchard H Jessen. Giraffe, tiang, antelope, elephant, buffalo and roan were collected. Part of the text also comes from diary of Mrs McMillan. Bulpett later went on safari with McMillan, led by John Boyes, the self-styled 'king of the Wakikuyu' and edited his book of the same name.

R R M Carpenter

Robert Ruliph Morgan Carpenter (1877 - 1949) was an American executive and member of the board of directors of DuPont. Carpenter was a long-time member of the Boone & Crockett Club and also owner of the Philadelpia Phillies.

My African Safari by R R M Carpenter (1937) is the story of his 1936 safari in East Africa where he hunted rhino, buffalo, oryx, waterbuck, lion and antelope with prominent white hunters, Donald Ker and Sid Downey. This is a rare, small book privately printed for himself.

Game Trails From Alaska To Africa by R R M Carpenter (1938). Hunting the world over, Alaska, pronghorn in Wyoming, mountain lion in Arizona, Kenya colony, northern BC Cassiar district, jaguar hunting in Sinaloa, bears in the Arctic.

Game Trails In Idaho And Alaska by R R M Carpenter (1940) is the scarce sequel to the author's 'Game Trails From Alaska To Africa'.

Patrick R Chalmers

Sport And Travel In East Africa: An Account Of Two Visits 1928 And 1930 by Patrick Chalmers (1934) was compiled from the Private Diaries of HRH The Prince of Wales, detailing his two hunting safaris. The Prince of Wales was led by Denys Finch Hatton, assisted by Andy Anderson, Pat Ayre, Bror Blixen and Monty Moore VC. The Duke of Gloucester, the Prince's brother was led by Alan Black and Sydney Waller and he also apparently became involved with Beryl Markham.

George Agnew Chamberlain

George Agnew Chamberlain (1879 - 1966) was an author of thrillers and romance novels. He was born in Brazil of American parents and was brought up and studied in the USA. He travelled widely and was for a time deputy American consul for Rio de Janeiro. Many of his books were made into popular films.

African Hunting Among The Thongas by George Agnew Chamberlain (1923). The author's experiences hunting big game in Portuguese East Africa in the early 20th Century.

James Saxon Childers

James Saxon Childers (1899 - 1965) was an American journalist, author and publisher.

Mumbo Jumbo, Esquire: A Book About The Two Africas by James Saxon Childers (1941) is an account of Childers' 1939 round trip of Africa from the Cape to Cairo and across North Africa. He went on a lion hunt with Donald Ker who got him up to a lion when Childers decided not to shoot but to take photographs instead. Much commentary on the big game hunting industry in Kenya at the time. Free eBook

Winston Churchill

Winston Churchill (1874 - 1965) was born into the world of hunting, shooting and fishing and throughout his life it was hunting and polo, first learned as a young cavalry officer in India, that he enjoyed most of all.

My African Journey by Winston Churchill (1908) is profusely illustrated with photos taken by Churchill on his trip guided by his friend, Jack Riddell, through British East Africa and then on down the Nile. At the time Churchill was Under Secretary of State for the Colonies. Free eBook

Frederick S Colburn

The Unbelievable Game Country by Frederick S Colburn (1927) is a very scarce diary of a hunting expedition led by Leslie Tarlton and Blaney Percival, with photographs of the killed game and closing with his lament that after all his successes he had failed to bag an elephant. He also met Osa and Martin Johnson on this safari.

The African Diary Of A Poor Shot by Frederick S Colburn (1927) is based on the author's 1922-1923 safari to Kenya. Starting on 21 December 1922 he arrived in Mombasa via steamer. From there they went via rail to Moshi where the safari proper started. They walked to Lake Manyara, then to Lake Natron and eventually back to the Nairobi-Voi railroad. The safari was with porters and wagons pulled by oxen. By modern standards it was not very successful, however in grandeur, this safari was the top of the heap in its time. The safari was arranged by Leslie Tarlton and it is interesting to note that a trip to the Masai region had to be cancelled because Masai warriors were on a rampage. Eventually, in March 1923 the party came back to Mombasa to resume its return journey to the US.

Colonel Francis Thompson Colby

Colonel Francis Thompson Colby (1882 - 1953) graduated from Harvard in 1905 and became an investment banker in Boston. He began trekking through Alaska and Asia, after which he reached Africa in 1910. He lived at the Muthaiga Country Club in Nairobi and became one of the major big game hunters before World War I. After serving in World War I he returned to Africa in 1929. He travelled through Ethiopia and later he represented the US at the coronation of Emperor Haile Selassie. He threw himself into big game hunting, fishing, playing polo and travelling through Ethiopia, Equatorial East Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, the Belgian Congo, and more, photographing and hunting his way across the continent. His trophy room was painstakingly re-created and may be seen at the Boston Science Museum.

African Big Game Photo Archive by Colonel Francis Thompson Colby (1920) is an extraordinary archive of original African safari photos taken across East Africa, the Belgian Congo, French Cameroon and Ethiopia, documenting a big game hunter during the heyday of safari between 1900 and 1945. There are photos of the Uele River at Bondo in the Congo, his record-making elephant tusks, elephants being washed & ridden, hunting lions, crocodiles, wild boar, gazelle, crossing rivers in safari trucks in Tanganyika, as well as a series of rhinoceros photos.

John Cudahy

John Clarence Cudahy (1887 - 1943) was the American ambassador to Poland, Ireland, Belgium, and Luxemburg in the 1930s and 1940s. He was also a major financial contributor to the Cudahy-Massee expedition as well as a participant. The expedition travelled to British East Africa in 1928 in order to add to the collection of the Milwaukee Public Museum.

African Horizons by John Cudahy (1930) describes his big game hunts in East Africa with professional hunter Pat Ayres.

Charles P Curtis Jr & Richard C Curtis

Hunting In Africa: East And West by Charles P Curtis Jr & Richard C Curtis (1925) is an account of a three month safari in 1923 with professional hunter Philip Percival to hunt lion, buffalo, rhinoceros and elephant in East Africa and giant sable in Angola. The author, his brother and wife, and his father, all from England tell of their experiences and observations.

Sir Claude De Crespigny

Sir Claude Champion De Crespigny (1847 - 1935) was at one time, a soldier who served in Africa, Ireland and India. He was an accomplished steeple chaser, hot air balloonist and big game hunter.

Forty Years Of A Sportsman's Life by Claude De Crespigny (1910). A glorious period account of the author's active life as a steeplechaser, sailor, fox-hunter, balloonist, soldier and African big-game hunter. His African safari was outfitted by Newland & Tarlton. Free eBook

Memoirs Of Sir Claude Champion De Crespigny, Bart by Claude De Crespigny & George Dewar (1896) Free eBook

Arthur S Crites

Arthur Saxe Crites (1879 - 1957) was an American banker in California, after serving with the National Guard in California.

A Hunter's Tale: Of The Great Outdoors by Arthur S Crites (1952) includes hunting deer, moose, caribou, brown and grizzly bear, plus bighorn sheep in Alaska. Also the author hunted in East Africa for elephant, buffalo, rhino, lion, leopard, eland and other game.

Eugene DeBogory

Eugene DeBogory (1880 -1956) was the founder of the Republic National Bank of Dallas, Texas.

Roaring Dusk by Eugene DeBogory (1928). The author and his 15 year old son embarked on an extended trip through Kenya, Uganda and the Belgian Congo in 1926. They travelled 4000 miles on a motorcycle with sidecar along jungle trails without guides or knowledge of the native language, killing lions and other game with .30 caliber rifles. The trip included borrowing horses to rope lions including an interesting episode with a full maned male lion. The author was knocked out of a tree by an elephant and chased before his son dispatched the elephant with his .30 caliber rifle. Among other episodes a rhino hooked the motorcycle with his horn and how DeBogory managed to put it together is a tribute to his mechanical skill. Another situation required him to create a paddlewheel for a dugout canoe powered by the motorcycle engine. Sleeping in trees and wet in swamps he has a benevolent view of the natives he encountered and some unconventional opinions of Africa in general. In one episode he is attacked by an eleven foot crocodile, jumps on its back and wrestles it to exhaustion, then drags it ashore and kills it. Eventually, several months later they sell the motorcycle, sail on river boats from the Congo to the mouth of the Nile and return to America and Texas.

John H Eagle

Adventures Of An Amateur Hunter In Africa by John H Eagle (1915) was privately printed and based on his diary, recounting his trips to Africa in 1911 and 1913. On his first trip, he hunted in British East Africa in the Guaso Nyero region for lion, roan antelope, topi, sable antelope, rhino, buffalo and a variety of other game. Near Lake Natron , he bagged oryx and cheetah. On his second trek, he hunted in northwestern Rhodesia. Near Kolomo, he took elephant and kudu, then shifted toward the Karue River after hippo, buffalo, sitatunga and numerous other species of game.

George Eastman

George Eastman (1854 - 1932) was an American innovator and entrepreneur who founded the Eastman Kodak Company and invented roll film, making photography available to everyone. He was one of the outstanding philanthropists of his time.

Chronicles Of An African Trip by George Eastman (1927) is an account, with photos by Martin Johnson, of his long safari in Africa. Eastman, travelled to Africa with two male friends and shot lots of big game guided by Philip Percival. He wrote about his experiences there in a series of letters to a Miss Whitney.

Chronicles Of A Second African Trip by George Eastman (1987). Eastman, obsessed by the fact that he had not shot an elephant on his earlier trip, planned a massive expedition following the route of Kitchener up the Nile by steamboat, across the Sudd and into Uganda. The trip took place in 1928 and he was accompanied by Martin and Osa Johnson and guided by the famous white hunter, Philip Percival. The story of his second trip had not been published until 1987.

The footage shows a lion charging which is shot by Eastman. Eastman, Osa Johnson and others examine the kill. A charging rhino drops dead a few paces from camera and Eastman takes picture with the rhino in foreground. Eastman takes pictures of safari and tries to get acquainted with camel but instead startles camel into bucking it's load. In 1927, Eastman, Osa Johnson and Dr Albert Kaiser of Rochester, New York relax on boat sailing up the Nile. Eastman poses natives in front of Kodak sign. In 1928 Eastman and Osa Johnson pose in group at Eastman house in Rochester, New York on Eastman's 77th birthday.

Negley Farson

James Negley Farson (1890 - 1960), was an American author, journalist and adventurer. He hunted with Syd Downey in the Masai Mara.

Behind God's Back by Negley Farson (1941) is the excellent story of Farson's 7 month drive with his wife across the middle of Africa in 1939. Farson bought a car in Dar es Salaam and drove all the way across Africa to Douala in the French Cameroons. His route led from Mfindi in southern Tanganyika, past Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti plains and across Kenya and Uganda, over the 8000 foot passes through the volcanoes into Ruanda-Urundi, the Belgian Mandate, across the Belgian Congo into French Equatorial Africa, and then across the Cameroons to the Gulf of Guinea. His wife was his sole companion on this gruelling drive from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. He got his lion in Kenya and his buffalo along the Ruizi river in Uganda. He hunted, got malaria, experienced an earthquake, interviewed governors, planters, natives and studied the Germans who were readying themselves for World War II.

Last Chance In Africa by Negley Farson (1949) is not only a travel book but an assessment of Kenya's social problems, exploitation of the black female by the black male, female circumcision, fanatic and often murderous religious sects, the white man's greatest crime that he has destroyed the African's faith in himself without being able to give him a new civilisation.

Book Related To Negley Farson:

Rex Bowman & Carlos Santos

Almost Hemingway: The Adventures Of Negley Farson, Foreign Correspondent by Rex Bowman & Carlos Santos (2021) relates the life of Negley Farson, adventurer, iconoclast, best-selling writer, foreign correspondent and raging alcoholic who died in oblivion. Born few years before Hemingway, Farson had a life trajectory that was very similar to the life of Hemingway, except Farson has been mostly forgotten. This biography covers Farsons life as a war correspondent during World War II and his reporting of many important global events of the time. He also mirrored Hemingway with his 7 month drive across Africa with his wife and a hunting safari in Kenya with Syd Downey.

Max Fleischmann

Major Max C Fleischmann (1877 - 1951) was an American businessman, philanthropist, big game hunter, yachtsman, aviator, parachutist and one time part owner of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team. His fortune came from the Fleischmann's Yeast company founded by his father and uncle.

After Big Game In Arctic And Tropic by Max Fleischmann (1909) was a privately published account of the author's hunting trips including a 1906 expedition in a sailing ship to within 600 miles of the North Pole, his safari into British East Africa in 1907, his pack trip into the Cassiar Mountains of British Columbia in 1908 and his hunting trip to the Alaskan Islands in 1909.

Edwin S George

Edwin S George (1873 - 1951) was a Detroit businessman in the fur trade. He was an avid African big game hunter who built a mansion to house his hunting trophies when he had no more room for them in his cottage home.

Cairo To Cape: Four Afoot Through Africa by E George (1926) is an account of the author's 1924 safari from Egypt to Sudan, then to Uganda, Tanganyika and onward through central Africa to the Cape. Big game hunting along the way and hunting elephants in Belgian Congo. His safari companions were all from Detroit - Sidney Waldon, Harold H Emmons and Dr James W Inches and they walked over 700 miles. Their professional hunter was T Murray Smith.

Other books by Edwin S George:

A Journey Around The World (1921)

A Journey To The Garden Of Allah (1923)

Following Camel Trails Of Asia (1926)

R Gorell Barnes

Ronald Gorell Barnes, 3rd Baron Gorell (1884 - 1963) was a British peer, politician, poet, author and newspaper editor who went on a do-it-yourself big game safari in Africa with his American friend.

Babes In The African Wood by R Gorrell Barnes (1911). Big-game hunting in the East Africa Protectorate around Mount Kenya to Isiolo and south to Kilimanjaro. Free eBook

A Barton Hepburn

Alonzo Barton Hepburn (1846 - 1922) was a United States Comptroller of the Currency from 1892 to 1893 and a keen African big game hunter. He completed a very successful four month hunt in British East Africa, returning with excellent game trophies.

The Story Of An Outing by A Barton Hepburn (1913) is an interesting account of big game hunting in British East Africa before the first world war, led by the legendary professional hunter R J Cuninghame, assisted by Major J A C Kirkwood. The author bagged a large variety of plains game including lesser kudu, gazelle, impala, wildebeest and eland, as well as lion and buffalo. Hepburn's hunting companion was Samuel C Pirie. Also on the same safari were Lyman N Hine, H Lloyd Folsom who detailed the dangers of a lion hunt, and John T Terry who hunted with George Outram. Illustrated with photographs by Kenya's pioneer photographer Herbert 'Pop' Binks of Nairobi. Free eBook

Book About A Barton Hepburn:

Joseph Bucklin Bishop

A Barton Hepburn: His Life And Service To His Time by Joseph Bucklin Bishop (1923) is an account of the life of Alonzo Barton Hepburn who was the United States Comptroller of the Currency from 1892 to 1893 and a keen African big game hunter and philantropist. He donated funds for the construction of libraries for each school he oversaw when he was a District Superintendent. These libraries used to house his large collection of hunting trophies.

Charles Allsopp Hindlip, Baron

Charles Allsopp Hindlip, 3rd Baron (1877 - 1931) fought in the Boer War as a lieutenant in the 8th Hussars. He became a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Zoological Society.

Sport And Travel: Abyssinia And British East Africa by Charles Allsopp Hindlip (1906). The Kenya and Uganda section of the book contains big-game hunting for elephant, lion, rhino and more, which was outfitted by Newland & Tarlton. Free eBook

British East Africa, Past, Present And Future by Charles Allsopp Hindlip (1905) includes the author's views of the potential attractions of life for Europeans in British East Africa. Free eBook

Paul L Hoefler

Paul Louis Hoefler (1893 - 1982) headed a trans-Africa (east to west) expedition and 'Africa Speaks' was the 1930 American documentary film of the safari, directed by Walter Futter.

Africa Speaks: A Story Of Adventure by Paul L Hoefler (1931) is a story of adventure and chronicles of the first trans-African journey by motor truck from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean to Lagos on the Atlantic, through central equatorial Africa. He also produced a film in part based on these travels. He used the professional hunting services of Mike Cottar for some lion hunting film footage and Donald Ker drove the truck. Free eBook

Gene Holman

Eugene Holman (1895 – 1962) was a American geologist and oilman who became the chairman and chief executive officer of the Standard Oil Company (New Jersey).

Safari In Africa by Gene Holman (1948) is a privately published account of the author's safari from Feb 6 to Mar 12, 1948 in Kenya. The safari was outfitted by Ker & Downey and the professional hunter was Tony Henley with Sam Eckert as the assistant PH. He sucessfully hunted lion, buffalo and other game.

Mrs F Kirk 'Bess' Johnson

Elizabeth M Johnson (1899 - 1987) was the wife of Francis Kirk Johnson Sr (1895 - 1963) who was a Texas oil man and big game hunter. He was in the racehourse business with actor, James Stewart, who with his wife Gloria, often accompanied Kirk and Elizabeth on expeditions, one of which was a forty-day safari in Africa.

Safari Diary: Africa, 1961 by Mrs F Kirk 'Bess' Johnson (1961) is an interesting photographic history of the movie star, James Stewart and his wife Gloria's first African safari, accompanied by the author, her husband with Jack Blacklaw and Bunny Ray as professional hunters with White Hunters Inc. outfitters. There trophies included elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard, oryx, zebra and gazelle. Faux leopard skin book cover.

Reuben A Kaplan

Reuben A Kaplan (1896 - 1978) was the founder of a successful tool company in Minnesota.

Safari Diary by Reuben A Kaplan (1953) is an account which captures the author's adventures in Uganda, Kenya and Tanganyika where he bagged lion, rhino, buffalo, leopard and a variety of plains game. His 30 day safari was guided by Eric Rundgren and the author relates lots of stories about and from Rundgren not told elsewhere.

Kenya Safari Photograph Album

Photograph Album Of A Safari In Kenya contains about 270 photographs of various sizes thought to be from the hunting safari of a Captain Hamilton and Captain Burrell and accompanied by two women, presumably their wives. The photos include pictures on the voyage out through the Suez Canal, the rail station at Mombasa, camp scenes and the many animals they hunted. There is mention of Lord & Lady Cranworth and photo of their property.

Mrs E L King

Grace Watkins King (1877 - 1975) was the wife of Minnesota businessman Ernest Leroy King. With her husband, she travelled to Kenya on safari in 1924. She not only shot lions on safari but also shot clays with Annie Oakley. The rifles used by Mrs King were .465 Holland & Holland, 12 gauge Smith, .470 d/b Westley Richards, Springfield Army rifle and a Westley Richards 'ovundo' gun with interchangeable shotgun and rifle barrels.

Hunting Big Game In Africa by Mrs E L King (1926) is an account of her African hunting safari in 1924. Grace King was quite well acquainted with firearms and purchased her heavy rifle from Dr Richard Sutton. They established a base camp on the N'Goro Nderi river where they hunted lion, buffalo and a variety of plains game. Along the Guaso Nyiro, they bagged elephant and hippo.

African Game Trophies 1924-1946 by Mr & Mrs E L King (1939). Two trips made by Mr & Mrs King to Tanganyika for dangerous and plains game. This pamphlet is much much scarcer than her book, which itself is scarce. The trophies were housed at their Winona National & Savings Bank.

Otto A Koehler

Otto A Koehler (d.1969) was an American businessman who was the nephew of the first Otto Koehler, the owner of a San Antonio brewery before he was murdered in 1914. Emma Koehler, the wife the first Otto Koehler, took over the running of the brewery before passing it on Otto A Koehler in 1933.

Ku-Winda by Otto A Koehler (1956). 'Ku- Winda' means 'To Hunt' in Swahili. The author describes his two hunting expeditions to Tanganyika and Kenya in the early 1950s arranged through Bunny Allen. PHs were Jack Blackwall and Lord Allen North. A step-by-step, nuts-and-bolts, guide to preparing for and going on a safari.

William Robinson Leigh

William Robinson Leigh (1866 - 1955) was born in West Virginia and became one of the foremost painters of the American West with a career of seventy-five years. Some people referred to him as the "Sagebrush Rembrandt". In 1926 he took his first of two trips to Africa funded by the Eastman Kodak Company and the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Frontiers Of Enchantment: An Artist's Adventures In Africa by W R Leigh (1938) are a collection of his notes and the realistic drawings he became known for, as he accompanied Carl Akeley to Africa for the Museum of Natural History of New York.

Ellis Christian Lenz

Rifleman's Progress by Ellis Christian Lenz (1946). Lenz recounts the 1932 safari to Tanganyika by noted marksman L R Canfield. While two-thirds of the text revolves around shooting matches at Camp Perry and other locations, the final third details Canfield's hunts after rhinoceros, buffalo, lion, oryx and other game in the Great Rift Valley.

Lawrence Lewis

An Old Fashioned Safari by Lawrence Lewis (1990) is the rare privately printed account of the author's 1951 safari to Kenya. He hunted elephant, buffalo, kudu, lion, eland and more with Safariland Ltd and his white hunter was Jack Blacklaws. May no longer be available.

Willoughby P Lowe

Willoughby Prescott Lowe (1872 - 1949) was a naturalist, ornithologist and professional collector of animals and birds for the British Museum. The Natural History Museum has over 10000 specimens shot, prepared by, or brought home from expeditions to which Willoughby Prescott Lowe was attached as the collector.

The Trail that is Always New by Willoughby P Lowe (1932). The author travelled extensively in Africa and spent a lot of time hunting in Kenya and Uganda. One of his professional hunters was the noted William Judd. A fairly scarce title and one of the very few to talk about hunting with Bill Judd.

The End Of The Trail by Willoughby P Lowe (1947)tales from the uthor's travels in Tunisia, Indochina, across the Sahara to the Hoggar Mountains, Tanganyika, Ashanti and Gold Coast forests.

Colonel A J (Sandy) MacNab

Colonel Alexander Jesse MacNab (1893 - 1957) was a US Army colonel, who was an avid hunter and fisherman.

The White Giraffe: An African Diary by Colonel A J (Sandy) MacNab (1939) is a rare privately published account of the author's hunting safari with his friend Harry Snyder being guided by J A Hunter in Tanzania and Kenya. It was during this safari that MacNab saw the first albino giraffe ever seen in Kenya, which he was able to photograph in colour. Pictures of the giraffe in an article about the safari by MacNab can be found in LIFE - Oct 10, 1938 : Page 44

Percy C Madeira

Percy Childs Madeira Sr (1862 - 1942) was born in Philadelphia and was an extremely wealthy coal-mining tycoon. He was also a trustee of Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company. Madeira and his wife were members of numerous clubs and associations and well known members of Philadelphia's high society. Mr & Mrs Madeira's safari was self-led with Tarlton & Newland doing the Nairobi outfitting. Like Mr Roosevelt, the Madeira safari hunted at the McMillan Estate where they met and hunted with a H Clarkson Williams who was also a guest there. Mr Williams was invited to accompany them as their guest on the rest of the safari.

Hunting In British East Africa by Percy C Madeira (1909) is an excellent volume on safari hunting in East Africa, two years before Theodore Roosevelt's safari. The author and his wife hunted buffalo, lion, leopard, eland, waterbuck, hippo, rhino and a variety of antelope. It includes the tense hours when Mrs Madeira became lost in the bush. It is a beautifully written book and an all time hunting classic. Free eBook

John T McCutcheon

John Tinney McCutcheon (1870 - 1949) was an artist, illustrator, reporter, editorial cartoonist and adventurer who travelled the world. In 1909 he accompanied Mr and Mrs Carl Akeley and a Mr Stephenson on an African hunt outfitted by Newland & Tarlton.

In Africa: Hunting Adventures In The Big Game Country by John T McCutcheon (1910). "It is merely the record of a most delightful hunting trip into those fascinating regions along the Equator, where one may still have thrilling adventures and live in a story-book atmosphere, where the roar of the lion and the crack of the rifle are part of the every-day life, and where in a few months one may store up enough material to keep the memory pleasantly occupied all the rest of a lifetime. The stories are descriptive of a four-and-a-half months trip in the big game country and pretend to no more serious purpose than merely to relate the experiences of a self-confessed amateur under such conditions." Free eBook

William And Irene Morden

Colonel William James Morden (1886 - 1958) had been an explorer, collector and hunter since the early 1920s. His wife, Irene Morden went on her first safari in 1954, an experience described in their book 'Our African Adventure'. Irene accompanied her husband on several more trips to Africa and elsewhere in the world and after his death, she led an expedition to Africa in 1965.

Our African Adventure by William and Irene Morden (1954) is an account of their expedition to Africa in the early 1950's on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History to study the Turkana of Northwestern Kenya. Starting their trip in Cape Town then travelling around South Africa, through south and northern Rhodesia into Tanganyika before even arriving in Kenya. They also found time to go big game hunting with the famous professional hunter Phillip Percival and his young assistant hunter, Harry Selby.

George Conrad Nagel

Denver M Wright's Missouri Lion Hunt: The True Story Of America's Strangest Safari by George Conrad Nagel (1933). Denver Macajah Wright was a successful businessman and an ardent hunter who staged the strangest and most bizarre African lion hunting safari in America. He imported two large male African lions and set them loose on an uninhabited island on the Mississippi river and with his son Charles and six beaters dressed in proper regalia, the hunt began! A movie was made of this hunt, entitled 'The Lure Of The Beast' and shown in selected theatres of the day.

Ralph Hudson Plumb

The Log Of The Amka by Ralph Hudson Plumb (1928) is a rare privately printed book about a trip with some friends including author Daniel Willard Streeter and Richard Goodyear to East Africa mainly to hunt elephant.

Ralph Pulitzer

Ralph Pulitzer (1879 – 1939) was an American newspaper publisher and author. A keen big game hunter, Pulitzer also hunted in Portuguese West Africa, now Angola, in 1930... titled 'The 1930-1931 Pulitzer Angola Expedition'. His entourage included his wife, Margaret; his son, Seward; his wife's French maid and her husband who was the butler. The expedition also included Wolfrid Rudyerd Boulton (1901 – 1983), an American ornithologist who held positions at the American Museum of Natural History and the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and had travelled widely on expeditions to Africa.

Diary Of Two Safaris by Ralph Pulitzer (1927) is the author's exceeding scarce private publication about his two hunts in Kenya and Tanganyika with renowned professional hunter, Alan Black. While they were hunting lions in the Serengeti, they ran into the George Eastman safari who were also looking for lions. It was reported in a 1926 edition of the New York Times, that during his first 3 month safari, Pulitzer bagged three lions, one rhino, a roan antelope, three waterbucks and a number of common antelopes. He also had two close calls, one with a lioness and another with a charging rhino, which Alan Black successfully dealt with. Unfortunately, this book is only available here as a print-on-demand version.

William S Rainsford

William Stephen Rainsford (1850 - 1933) was a Irish-born big game hunter, preacher and social reformer. After his appointment as a rector in Norwich he went to the United States in 1876. He was a mission preacher in America for two years before becoming assistant rector at St. James' Cathedral, Toronto. In 1883 he became the rector of St. George's Church, Stuyvesant Square, New York.

The Land Of The Lion by William S Rainsford (1909). Big game hunting in British East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika) for elephant, buffalo, lion, rhino and leopard and other game. Rainsford was guided by Arthur Cecil Hoey on the year long safari which included hunting lion on horseback (galloping lions). Various appendices including 'Notes on Personal Outfit', 'Where to find Big Game', 'Sample telegrams sent by Indian Station masters of the Uganda railway line indicating how the lions made them helpless', and a Swahili dictionary. Free eBook

The Story Of A Varied Life by W S Rainsford (1922) is the autobiography of the preacher and big game hunter, best known for his book 'The Land Of The Lion'. There is much on his life in the Church and includes a chapter on Theodore Roosevelt and recollections of travels and hunting in the Rocky Mountains for grizzlies with David Kennedy, a Canadian hunter and outdoorsman. Free eBook

Dorothy Una Ratcliffe

Dorothy Una Ratcliffe (1887 - 1967) was best known as a Yorkshire poet who was, in fact, born in Surrey. In 1909 she married Charles Ratcliffe, the heir and nephew of chemical magnate, Edward Allen Brotherton - later Lord Brotherton of Wakefield. It was with her second husband, Noel McGrigor Phillips, that she travelled to Africa.

Equatorial Dawn: Travel Letters From North, East And Central Africa by Dorothy Una Ratcliffe (1936) is a lively account of a long hunting safari through East and Central Africa in the early 1930s, in the course of which the author runs into Ernest Hemingway and his wife. Includes chapters on Nairobi, the Serengetti, safaris to the Northern Frontier Province, Western Kenya, Uganda, the Belgian Congo and the Nile. Also the author relates a conversation in the African bush with Philip Percival and Ernest Hemingway concerning dangerous game.

Steven F Schroeder

The Best Of John Jobson: A Treasury Of Twenty Years edited by Steven F Schroeder (1982) is a collection of writings by John Jobson who was a Western outdoor sports writer and an authority on big game hunting in North America and Africa. It covers hunting North America for bear, elk, sheep, deer, antelope, caribou and moose and in Africa, for buffalo, elephant, sable, leopard, eland and other lesser game.

Robert L Scott

Robert Lee Scott Jr (1908 - 2006) was a Brigadier General and flying ace in the United States Air Force. Scott is best known for his autobiography 'God Is My Co-Pilot' about his exploits in World War II and his many other books about his flying career however, he also wrote about his African hunting safaris.

Between The Elephant's Eyes by Robert L Scott (1954) are his stories of a big game hunting looking for lion, leopard, buffalo and elephant in pre-independence Kenya. It includes the story of his pursuit of the great bull elephant, Samburu, on the Tana River in Kenya. When he eventually comes face to face with his adversary he decides not to pull the trigger.

Samburu: The Elephant by Robert L Scott (1957) are his elephant hunting tales.

God Is My Co-Pilot by Robert L Scott (1943) is the personal narrative and autobiography of the Flying Tigers ace fighter pilot who had one of the most outstanding careers in American military aviation history.

Guy Hamilton Scull

Guy Hamilton Scull (1876 - 1921) was an soldier, writer, explorer and war correspondent. Having got to know Buffalo Jones, he helped form a company to finance the roping expedition to Africa. This was to be done by filming the expedition and selling the films to cinemas. There was also the idea of bringing African buffalo back to the American west to create hybrids to provide cheap meat and hides. Scull was made logistics manager of the expedition at all times except when out in the field when the Colonel, as Buffalo Jones was known, took complete charge.

Lassoing Wild Animals In Africa by Guy Hamilton Scull (1911). The author was the field manager of the Buffalo Jones African expedition which included his two cowboys, Marshall Loveless and Ambro Means. The introduction of the book is by Theodore Roosevelt. The noted photographer Cherry Kearton was also a member of this expedition. Ray Ulyate from Arusha was hired as the white hunter on the expedition. Free eBook

Book About Guy Hamilton Scully:

Henry Jay Case

Guy Hamilton Scull: Soldier, Writer, Explorer And War Correspondent by Henry Jay Case (1922) is the biography of the man who will be always known for his part in the Buffalo Bill 'stunt' of lassoing African animals. This biography is a collection of stories, incidents and impressions obtained from Scull's friends and associates in many of his explorations and adventures. He rarely talked about himself or of his adventures. What is revealed is a man of contrasts who was a Harvard graduate, talented musician and writer as well as a rugged adventurer who joined the Rough Riders (1st United States Volunteer Cavalry), worked on a cattle ranch in New Mexico and was a war correspondent during the Boer War in South Africa. Free eBook

Er M Shelley

Er Myron Shelley (1874 - 1959) was an American dog breeder and trainer who was Paul Rainey's personal dog handler (with 2 assistants) when he imported a pack of trained bear and cougar hounds in to Africa to hunt lions. Rainey was looking for a new way to hunt lions and had the theory that dogs could be trained to only follow the scent of a lion to the exlusion of that of all other animals.

Hunting Big Game With Dogs In Africa by Er M Shelley (1924) is an exceptionally rare hunting book in which dog trainer and breeder Er Shelley recounts his adventures hunting buffalo, lion and leopard with his specially trained kennel of hounds, Airedales and fox terriers in British East Africa under the patronage of American coal mining heir and big game hunter, Paul J Rainey (1877 - 1923) who hunted with Alan Black and George Outram.

Fred Silbermann

My Safari Saga by Fred Silbermann (1936) was written, illustrated and published by the author in a limited edition run of 500 copies. He relates his big game hunting adventures with John Noel Pitcairn Holmes, his Safariland professional hunter. In test firing his .450 Westley Richards, both barrels went off at once and the author had to have repairs done before starting his safari. He bagged buffalo, lion, topi, waterbuck with his rhino encounter being particularly hair raising. He describes his trip, almost entirely by aeroplane, from London to Egypt and then from place to place heading south to South Africa, where he grew up. From South Africa he returned north in several hops to Egypt and on to London.

Harry Snyder

Colonel Harry Michener Snyder (1883 - 1972) was a wealthy American born, Canadian businessman who hunted and collected wildlife specimens for the American Museum of Natural History. For 50 years, he spent 2 months of every year hunting. In 1938 he shot a record elephant in Kenya, which was said to be more than 12ft tall, weighed more than 8¹/₂ tons and aged between 150 and 175 years!

Snyder's Book Of Big Game Hunting by Harry Snyder (1950) covers selection of rifles for big game hunting, North American game animals, African hunting including a great elephant hunt. Snyder's PH in Africa was the legendary J A Hunter. He also hunted with Sandy McNabb and Sidney Downey.

Francois Sommer

Francois Sommer (1904 - 1973) was a French industrialist and big game hunter. He founded the Association of Big Game Hunters and the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature (Museum of Hunting and Nature).

Man And Beast In Africa by Francois Sommer (1953) with the foreword by Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway describes this as an excellent, well-informed book on shooting game animals in Africa - a book written for hunters.

Henry Philip Staats

Henry Philip Staats (1900 - 1971) was an American architect and big game hunter. Not only for his safari journals, Staat became known for filming the Bachman’s warbler which is now believed to be extinct.

African Journal: 1953-1954 by Henry Philip Staats (1954). East African hunting with Syd Downey as PH. They visited Miles Turner and met a host of other notables from this golden era. Very scarce privately printed title.

Journal Second African Safari: December 27, 1956 - February 25, 1957 by Henry Philip Staats (1957) is the diary-form account of Staats' second safari in Kenya and Tanganyika with professional hunters, Syd Downey and John Kingsley-Heath. Other hunters in the party included Myles Turner, Donald Ker and Jack Block. They successfully bagged leopard, kudu, oryx and other lesser game.

Martin Stephens

Fair Game: The Open Air Of Four Continents by Martin Stephens (1936). Hunting adventures with big game on four continents. Also the author deprecates the coming of luxury safaris where indiscrimate hunting and motor cars were ruining African sport.

Daniel W Streeter

Daniel Willard Streeter (1883 - 1964) was an American hunter, adventurer and author.

Denatured Africa by Daniel W Streeter (1926). With humour and wit, the author recounts how he realized at the age of thirty-nine, that he had never been anywhere, and so he decided to travel to Africa. It is a hilarious look at the great white hunter and will be welcomed by all armchair adventurers who are interested in knowing how close an inferiority complex can approach a rhino without fatal results. Free eBook

Camels! by Daniel W Streeter (1927) is another humorous look at discomforts on 1920s travel up the Blue Nile, then east toward the Ethiopian border. "The Nile is the mother of all Egypt. The father's identity remains vague."

An Arctic Rodeo by Daniel W Streeter (1929) is an account featuring the Montana cowboy, Carl Dunrud, who came aboard the arctic exploration vessel specifically for the purpose of roping and bringing back live polar bears and the like. Free eBook

Count Zsigmond Szechenyi

Count Zsigmond Szechenyi (1898 - 1967) was a Hungarian hunter and writer. He took four East African hunting safaris particularly for elephant and bongo. He was guided by professional hunter T Murray Smith.

Land Of Elephants: Big-Game Hunting In Kenya, Tanganyika And Uganda by Count Zsigmond Szechenyi (1935). Hunting elephant in the Kitui Forest and along the Tiva River in Kenya, bongo near Mount Kenya, kudu along the northern reaches of Lake Rudolf, leopard on the northern Guaso Nyiro and lion on the Serengeti Plains. He characterizes the daily life of an elephant hunter as "not all roses" filled with "useless exhaustion, privation, regrets, ever-repeated failure and ever-reiterated strain on his endurance, his nerves and, above all, his patience." Free eBook

Harry Tennison

Harry Lee Tennison (1919 - 2009) was an avid American big game hunter and conservationist. In the 1970s he founded Game Conservation International and pioneered the concept of establishing a viable breeding population of black rhinos outside of Africa.

An African Affair by Harry Tennison (1988). The author shares his most exciting experiences mainly with the African big five. This book reads like a 'who's who' of African safari hunting in the 1960s...it mentions and has photographs of Bunny Allen, Peter Becker, Glen Cottar, Reggie Destro, Alfie von Auersperg, Ian Henderson, Mike Prettejohn, the actor James Stewart, Ian Player, Adrian Carr and many more.

W S Van Dyke

Woodbridge Strong Van Dyke (1889 - 1943) was an American motion picture director. In 1931 he made the film 'Trader Horn' which was the first non-documentary film shot on location in Africa.

Horning Into Africa by W S Van Dyke (1931) is the tale of a seven month safari to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and the Congo during the filming of 'Trader Horn' with professional hunters W V D Dickinson, Sydney Waller, Jim Barns, Hugh Stanton and Jack Lucy (who was severely mauled by a lion while out hunting with the author). Trader Horn DVD

Fred A Wardenburg

Operation Safari by Fred A Wardenburg (1948) is a privately published account of a 7 week photographic safari to Kenya and Tanganyika in 1948 with Syd Downey.

Safari Encore by Fred A Wardenburg (1950) is a diary of a trip the author made to a number of African countries in 1950. From French Equatorial Africa to Nairobi and south to Victoria Falls and South Africa.

Prince William Of Sweden

Among Pygmies And Gorillas: With The Swedish Zoological Expedition To Central Africa 1921 by Prince William Of Sweden (1923). William and his scientific expedition collected gorillas in the highlands of Rwanda before descending into the area south of Lake Edward where numerous lions were bagged. Near Lake Albert elephants were also collected.

In The Lands Of The Sun: Notes And Memories Of A Tour In The East by William, Prince of Sweden (1915). Much on big-game hunting for buffalo, leopard, tiger in Malaya, Siam and India.

Dorothy Wilson

Danger, Danger, Danger: True Tales Of Heroic Adventures by Dorothy Wilson (1960) is a selection of tales of dangerous adventures including Frank Hibben hunting for a man-eater and Carl Akeley strangling a leopard barehanded.

Dean Witter

Dean G Witter (1887 - 1969) was an American businessman who co-founded Dean Witter & Company, which became the largest investment house on the West Coast. He was a keen hunter, fisherman and outdoorsman.

Solo Safari by Dean Witter (1949). A big game hunting trip in 1948 over the period of three weeks during which time Witter (with PH Tom Murray Smith) took over 40 big game animals including over 20 species including an enormous record rhino as well as lions, buffalo and other species in the area. All is meticulously chronicled including calibers, distances, brands used, times of kills and great descriptions of the hunts.

Shikar by Dean Witter (1961). The author's experience hunting tigers in India in 1961.

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Page Updated: July 2023