HAARDT (Georges-Marie) - AUDOUIN-DUBREUIL (Louis). The Black Cruise: The Citroën Central African Expedition. Paris: Librairie Plon, [1927]. — In-4, 279 x 245: frontispiece, (3 ff.), VII, 261 pp., (2 ff.), 79 plates, 1 portrait, 4 maps, illustrated cover. Havana-brown buffalo leather; covers adorned with a black intaglio border and four spandrels in slight relief depicting various tribal motifs painted in black and red; medallion in the center of the front cover, decorated in the same style; decorated ribbed spine, with a gilded border inside, brown moiré silk linings and endpapers, gilded head, untrimmed, cover intact, slipcase (publisher’s binding). First edition, printed in a run of 2,500 copies, covering the second automobile rally organized in Central Africa by André Citroën and led by Georges-Marie Haardt (1884–1932) and Louis Audouin-Dubreuil (1887–1960) from October 28, 1924, to June 26, 1925. It followed the expedition organized in the Sahara in 1922–1923 and preceded the one that took place in Asia in 1931–1932. The volume is illustrated with decorative motifs designed by Georges Tcherkessof, a frontispiece reproduction of Iacovleff’s painting depicting the expedition members, a separate-block portrait of André Citroën, Georges-Marie Haardt, Louis Audouin-Dubreuil, and Commander Bettembourg based on Iacovleff’s drawings, numerous out-of-text photographs reproduced in rotogravure from images taken during the journey, and four maps, three of which are in color. One of the first 500 copies printed on Madagascar paper (no. 95), in a publisher’s binding decorated with tribal motifs. A precious copy belonging to Marshal Hubert Lyautey (1854–1934), enhanced by this beautiful autograph dedication signed by Georges-Marie Haardt: To Marshal Lyautey, // whose indelible // memory we have found in all our colonies and in // Madagascar, the destination of our expedition, // as a tribute of respectful admiration // for his great colonial work // Georges-Marie Haardt Lyautey devoted his career to Africa, from Algeria to Madagascar, before becoming the architect of modern Morocco. His military, political, and cultural actions profoundly shaped the territories under his authority, leaving a lasting mark on the history of Franco-African relations. A fine copy. Provenance: Marshal Lyautey, with a letter of accompaniment.