Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa; including a sketch of sixteen years' residence in the interior of Africa.
London: John Murrary, 1857.
Price: $1,500.00
About the item
First edition, Bradlow's Variant No. 2. Folding engraved frontispiece, 2 folding maps (one in rear pocket), 23 plates, 1 folding section plus numerous illustrations to text. [x], 688, [8 ads (dated November 1, 1857] pp. 8vo. Publisher's blindstamped brown cloth, spine gilt, label of binder Edmonds & Remnant on back pastedown. Hinges cracked. Abbey Travel 347; F.R. Bradlow, "The Variants of the 1857 edition" in Lloyd ed. Livingstone 1873-1973; Czech p. 168; Howgego L39; Mendelssohn I, pp. 908-910; PMM 341; Abbey Travel 347; Czech (Africa), p. 168; ; Henze III, p. 270; Gay 3034; ; cf. Kainbacher p. 87.
Item #313644
"Livingstone's services to African geography ... are almost unequalled ... he explored vast regions of central Africa, many of which had never been seen by white men before" (PMM).
One of the great classics of African travel. When Livingstone returned to England after sixteen years in Africa, he was immediately awarded the Royal Geographical Society's gold medal. These years saw him seek to fulfil his obligations to the London Missionary Society, he made two long journeys north try to find a better station for the mission to operate from. He later travelled to Lake Ngami and, most importantly, in the years 1854-6, he made his great crossing of Africa from Luanda on the west coast to Quelimane on the east. All of this is recorded in his account. He set the standard that the likes of Stanley, Speke and Burton all tried to attain.
His account not only set out his adventures and experiences, but it filled with notes on natural history, anthropology, tropical medicine, and religion. Furthermore, Czech notes that the work also contains sporting interest: "There are numerous sporting incidents with hunts after lions, buffalo, elephants and a variety of plains game, even though Livingstone did not consider himself a sportsman"
