London: John Murray, 1878. Two volumes, octavo, original brown pictorial cloth gilt, back endpapers. Volume I: pp (xvi), 378, [2] + frontispiece and 2 other plates, 6 vignette illustrations in text. Volume II: pp (xii), 328, 32 Feb.,1877, catalogue + folding frontispiece and 3 plates, 7 vignette illustrations in text + colour folding map at rear (complete). Library discard, with label of the Norfolk & Norwich Library inside front cover of Vol. I; inside front cover of Vol. II scarred from removed label; discard rubber stamp to label and half-title leaves; ink owner name at front of each volume, but no pouches, spine marks, or other library marks. Partial cloth split to front joint and across spine of Vol. I neatly repaired; inner hinges of both volumes neatly repaired; three inch tear to the map neatly repaired on blank side with clear archival paper tape; small chips at heads of spines; else a VG clean, now tight and unworn pair. "Written in a fluent and picturesque style, is of great interest and full of excellent observations about the colonial region and the 'sertao' of Parana. It is certainly one of the best travel books about that part of Brazil" (Borba de Moraes 106). "After working at a shipyard in the city of Portsmouth , Thomas joined the team (of sixteen English and Swedish engineers) of the 'Paraná And Mato Grosso Survey Expedition' led by the captain of the Swedish army Christian Palm. The expedition was hired by the Brazilian imperial government and the Visconde de Mauá with the intention of undertaking feasibility studies for the construction of a railroad linking up the provinces of Mato Grosso and Paraná. The expedition started its services in the early 1870s and Bigg-Wither reached Paraná in June 1871 . Staying in the regions of Curitiba and general fields (region Tibagi ) for about four years, he returned to England in April 1875. During the period that he remained in Brazil, he made records of personal character, aspects of the local and indigenous population, the Curitiba, agriculture, flora and fauna, among other matters deemed relevant." - Wikipedia, edited. 2 kg parcel.