King Solomon's Mines (1885) is a popular novel by the English Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of an expedition through an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain, searching for the missing brother of one of the party. It is one of the first English adventure novels set in Africa and is considered to be the genesis of the lost world literary genre. Haggard dedicated this book to his childhood idol Humphry Davy.
First edition
The way to Kukuanaland
"To those who enter the hall of dead"; Walter Paget
Cover art from King Solomon's Mines, Avon Periodicals, 1951, art by Lee J. Ames.
Sir Henry Rider Haggard was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform throughout the British Empire. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature and including the eighteen Allan Quatermain stories, continue to be popular and influential.
Haggard, c. 1905
Portrait of H. Rider Haggard c. 1902
Blue plaque, 69 Gunterstone Road, London
H. Rider Haggard in later life (undated picture)