Bidspirit auction | Carlota de Serpa Pinto

Carlota de Serpa Pinto - A Vida Breve e Ardente de Serpa Pinto - Carlota de Serpa Pinto, 1937. Published in Lisbon in 1937 by the Agência Geral das Colónias (General Agency of the Colonies), this is a profoundly personal and patriotic biography dedicated to Alexandre Alberto da Rocha de Serpa Pinto (1846–1900), the celebrated Portuguese explorer and colonial administrator. Written by his daughter, Maria de Serpa Pinto, the work is presented in a large octavo format, comprising 269 pages of text, plus two pages of index, and is illustrated with various portraits and engravings outside the text that document the life and African expeditions of the subject. The copy is paperback, preserving the original publisher's paperback covers. The text block is well preserved, and the exterior shows only minor signs of age and slight superficial damage consistent with the age and handling of the piece. This is an indispensable reference work for the study of the history of European exploration in Africa and the biography of one of the most emblematic figures of 19th-century Portuguese colonialism.