C. V. A. (Charles Victor Alexander) Peel

Born in 1869, Charles Victor Alexander Peel wrote under the name C. V. A. Peel. Surviving catalog and book records connect him with travel and natural-history writing, and his work shows a clear fascination with wildlife, hunting, and the places he visited.

He is especially associated with Somaliland: Being an Account of Two Expeditions into the Far Interior, a firsthand narrative of travel and big-game hunting in the Horn of Africa. He also wrote The Zoological Gardens of Europe: Their History and Chief Features, a book that reflects his broader interest in animals not just in the wild, but also in the institutions created to study and display them.

Peel died in 1931. Although he is not widely known today, his books preserve a distinct late-Victorian and early-20th-century view of exploration, field observation, and the culture of natural history.