TITLE.................... ....: IN DARKEST AFRICA
SUBTITLE..................: or the QUEST, RESCUE AND RETREAT OF EMIN GOVERNOR OF EQAUTORIA.
AUTHOR................. ..: H.M.STANLEY
PUBLISHER...............:SHRIBNER'S, BOSTON & NEW YORK
DATE & EDITION.......:1891, 2 ND AMERICAN
COVER SIZE (mm)....: 155 X 228
CONDITION...............: generally fair / good light age soiling and wear and some damages...
DUST JACKET...........: no
COVERS.....................: green cloth boards, gilt title and black illustration of Africa , small scuffs,age soiling and wear to edges & corners
SPINE.........................: with gilt title, heavy wear to extremities, sunned
END & FLY PAPERS..: brown coloured, good, toned
PAGES.......................: 547 & 540 pp including index, mainly clean.
BINDING....................: tight but frontis and title in both volumes are loose but present, fly leaves split front & back in both volumes,
PLATES & MAPS.......:many woodcut engravings throughout; 1 loose, coloured, folding map which is very worn and splitting along folds (2 maps missing); tissues to frontis heavily spotted in both
INSCRIPTIONS..........: no
SYNOPSIS, BLURB...: Classic 19th century narrative of African exploration. Stanley created the direct link between exploration and colonization, especially in the service of Leopold II of Belgium, helping to found the Congo Free State ruled by the Belgian monarch as a personal domain. This book is the narrative of Stanley's 1887-89 expedition describing his struggle to find Emir Pasha. It depicts, among other things, pygmies who were still mysterious to the outside world. Stanley also wrote about the slave trade, but he believed in the superiority of the white race. Stanley’s remarkable account of his expedition from the East Coast through the heart of Africa to the land of The Nile. This expedition was originally intended as a rescue mission for Emin Pasha after Khartoum fell into hands of the Mahdists and General Gordon was killed. Athough failing in its primary objective, the expedition accomplished great things, Stanley discovered the great snow-capped range of Ruwenzori, the Mountains of the Moon, besides a new lake which he named the Albert Edward Nyanza, and a large south-western extension of Lake Victoria, and he had come upon the pigmy tribes who had inhabited the great African forest since prehistoric times. On his way down to the coast Stanley had concluded treaties with various native chiefs which he transferred to Sir William Mackinnon's company and so laid the foundation of the British East African Protectorate. The largest fold out map shows the routes taken on the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition. The woodcut illustrations are splendid and the frontispiece to both volumes is tissue protected.
A collector's item at a competitive price for the overall condition of this set .
A most desirable 2 volume set – much less expensive than the more rare, attractive and better made British edition. This example is in very similar condition to (if not better than) sets offered elsewhere at around US$150 - $200.
Most serious damages: loose frontis and title pages. & missing map.
Contents are generally very clean.
Not in tip – top collecting condition but a very good, presentable reading copy.
Priced accordingly.
