Perilous Adventures and Extensive Discoveries in the Interior of Africa

1 volume. First edition 1872.

The Great Explorer's Life History

From His Birth to His Burial.

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Publishers burgundy cloth with gilt titles.

Gilt title and vignette to spine.

Frontispiece portrait plates.

xvi, 615 pages, 2 page catalogue.

Full-page plates.

Livingstone was one of the first Westerners to make a transcontinental

journey across Africa in 1854-1856. Africa had not been crossed by

Europeans at that latitude owing to their susceptibility to malaria,

dysentery and sleeping sickness which was prevalent in the interior

and which also prevented use of draft animals (oxen and horses), as

well as to the opposition of powerful chiefs and tribes. In 1874, the

New York Herald, in partnership with Britain's Daily Telegraph, financed

Henry M. Stanley on an expedition to the African continent. One of his

missions was to solve a last great mystery of African exploration by tracing

the course of the Congo River to the sea. The difficulty of this expedition is

hard to overstate. Stanley used sectional boats to pass the great cataracts

separating the Congo into distinct tracts. After 999 days, on 9 August 1877,

Stanley reached a Portuguese outpost at the mouth of the Congo River.

Starting with 356 people, only 114 had survived, of whom Stanley was the

only European. Included is a detailed account of the discoveries of both

renown explorers.

An exceptional book in very good condition.

Recorded shipping weight 1500g.

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