Books

Thick octavo, publisher s decorative brown cloth with gilt lettered spine. First edition, early issue, of Livingstone s first book. Illustrated with 24 full-page engraved plates including folding wood-engraved frontispiece, numerous in-text woodcuts, folding elevation chart and two folding maps with Livingstone s routes hand-colored. Housed in a custom quarter morocco clamshell box by the Heritage Bindery. Expertly recased with new endpapers. Interior is very clean and the original cloth is in excellent fresh shape only exhibiting very minor wear. A rare PRESENTATION COPY likely signed in the hand of a John Murray clerk: "Presented to W.H. Wylde from the author" on top of the dedication leaf. W.H. Wylde (1819-1909) was an acquaintance of Livingstone's from the British foreign office. As head of the commercial, consular and Slave Trade Departments of the F.O. from 1859, Wylde received correspondence (and clearly corresponded with) consuls, ambassadors, travelers and diplomats the length and breath of the globe. But it is the West and East Coasts of Africa and in particular the battle to defeat the slave trade (something Livingstone also worked to abolish) and establish legitimate trade in these areas, which dominated Wylde's own career. Durham University has his letter archive which contains correspondence with Livingstone, Layard, Hooker, Burton and other famous explorers. A very ice copy with an excellent presentation.

This book details David Livingstone's explorations in South Africa, his encounters with indigenous peoples, and his efforts to spread Christianity.