The Achievements of Stanley and Other African Explorers
Philadelphia: Hubbard Brothers, 1878. First Edition. 8vo, 8 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches (220 x 146 mm); 605 pp. Profusely illustrated, with a rear folding map in color, which has a 2-inch tear at the upper left corner. Polished green cloth binding with beveled edges, boards have debossed frame and facsimile signature of Henry Stanley, highlighted in gilt and black on the front board. Spine with decorative title in gilt and black and illustration at foot of spine. Pages unmarked and evenly tone, covers a little scuffed and corners bumped, with front hinge cracked but binding is quite solid.
Penned inscription dated 1879 on first free flyleaf.
A history of Stanley's exploration of Africa. Henry M. Stanley (1841-1904) was an American journalist and adventurer, who took up the New York Herald's mission ”to go and find Livingstone”.
He traveled 700 miles in 236 days before he found the ailing Scottish missionary explorer David Livingstone on the island of Ujiji. At meeting Livingstone, Stanley tried to hide his enthusiasm and uttered his famous greeting: "Doctor Livingstone, I presume!" Besides his discovery of Livingstone, he is mainly known for his search for the sources of the Nile and Congo rivers, the work he undertook as an agent of King Leopold II of the Belgians that enabled the occupation of the Congo Basin region. More than a century after his death, Stanley's legacy remains the subject of enduring controversy. Although he personally had high regard for many of the native African people who accompanied him on his expeditions, the exaggerated accounts of corporal punishment and brutality in his books fostered a public reputation as a hard-driving, cruel leader, in contrast to the supposedly more humanitarian Livingstone. His contemporary image in Britain also suffered from the perception that he was American. In the 20th century, his reputation was also seriously damaged by his role in establishing the Congo Free State for King Leopold II. Nevertheless, he is recognized for his important contributions to Western knowledge of the geography of Central Africa and for his resolute opposition to the slave trade in East Africa. (source: Wikipedia)
Headley, Joel Tyler (1813-1897) was an American clergyman, historian, author, newspaper editor, adventurer and politician who served as Secretary of State of New York, elected on the American Party ticket.
Condition: Very Good.
Item number: 1727
Price: $350.00
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