London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1890. First edition of the classic 19th-century account of African exploration.
A signed presentation copy from Stanley to Dr William Garden Blaikie, author of the definitive biography of Dr. Livingstone: The Personal Life of David Livingstone (1880), with materials chiefly from Livingstone’s unpublished Journals and Correspondence in the possession of his family, at whose request the book was undertaken.
Inscribed "To Professor Blaikie of Edinburgh reciprocating with many thanks his late courtesy, July 3rd, 1890, London".
A marvelous and historically important association copy.
Two volumes, 8vo. Original red pictorial cloth, decorated in gilt, map endpapers in pale green. Frontispiece in each volume plus 36 plates, 3 folding maps (2 in color), and 150 woodcut illustrations.
Lower half of spine to volume 1 damp-stained, extending into the rear board. A little foxing to preliminary pages, one page with a small piece missing but not affecting text. Rubbing to extremities and corners, boards shaken and hinges starting. Two of the maps have a small tape repair. About good.
