1982 first edition hardcover with dust jacket and 252 pages in good condition.

In 1858 the fames missionary explorer Dr David Livingstone led an expedition,sponsored by the British Government, to investigate the navigability of the Zambezi River. Artist and storekeeper to the venture was Thomas Baines whose diary of 1858 is published here for the first time together with related correspondence. The text is illustrated with over a hundred of Baines' pencil and water-colour sketches, many of which have not been reproduced before.

From the preface: 'This episode in the life of Thomas Baines during which he spent approximately sixteen months from March 1858 to July 1859 as official artist and storekeeper to David Livingstone's Zambesi expedition is still of relevance today. Baines's account not only reviews the exploratory feats of the party and its individuals during the journey from the delta of the Zambezi River to the Cahora Bassa Rapids, but it also represents a microcosm of human interaction and its resultant ramifications for the small group and each member - especially for Baines himself.

The famous missionary-explorer, Dr Livingstone, dismissed the versatile land and sea traveller, craftsman and significant nineteenth century Africana artist on allegations of theft, but refused him a trial in a legal court. Thus Baines spent virtually the rest of his life trying to clear his name. Unlike Livingstone, the artist did not have the public appeal, financial resources and influential connections in Victorian Britain to vindicate himself, and the stigma remained. Through his prolific painting and complementary writing Baines has immortalised an epoch of African history.'