In Darkest Africa, 1890: 2 vol set; rare 2nd edition

Description: Publishers, Sampson Low & Co., 1890, Hard Cover, Second Edition. Original red/brown cloth with decorative gold gilt lettering and gold gilt illustrations on the front cover and the spine. Some speckling throughout, tape on one map, minor wear and tear on maps and binding, bumped corners. A printing error makes this book more valuable: in the back on both volumes the pages were never completely cut through. . .approximately 15 pages. Full title: "In Darkest Africa or the Quest and Rescue of Emin, Governor of Equatoria". From a rare book seller: "A very general rule in book collecting is that the first edition is the most desirable, but there are exceptions. This is often the case with non-fiction, especially historical works and narratives of travel and exploration. In these areas, a second or later edition may be preferable because of added material, such as maps, illustrations or previously unmentioned information. Later editions can also be greatly improved in format and organization." This is the case for vol. 2 It has 23 full-page illustrations (not 26 as the First Edition does). It still has 472 pages, two advertisements, three maps, 15 full page illustrations and 46 illustrations within the text. There is a portrait in the front (with a vellum guard) and it is SIGNED. Volume 2 contains Appendices with an additional fold out that the First Edition does not have. Volume 1 appears to be the same as the First Edition with a group portrait in the front (with a vellum guard), 529 pages, 1 large folding map, 15 full-page illustrations, and 59 illustrations within the text. Perhaps no adventurer is more closely connected with Africa than Lord Stanley, whose various expeditions did more to reveal the nature of that continent than any modern explorer. His 1887 mission to relieve the besieged governor of Egypt, his last mission to Africa, ended miserably when Stanley arrived only to learn that the governor did not care to be relieved, but instead was angry at the Englishman for interfering in his affairs. This account contains the harrowing details of Stanley’s journey through the nearly impenetrable Ituri, or Great Congo, Forest, which he traversed not once but three times over the course of his travels. The conditions were brutal; sometimes the expedition could achieve no more than three or four hundred yards an hour. Along the way Stanley compiled important data on the Pygmies and discovered the Ruwenzori, or “Mountains of the Moon.” The perilous journey nearly cost Stanley his life, and only a third of the men with whom he set out returned alive.

Price: 900 USD

Location: Corona, California

End Time: 2025-01-09T00:00:09.000Z

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