The Autobiography of Sir Henry Morton Stanley
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1909. First American edition. Hardcover. 8vo. [5], vi-xvii, [4], 4-551, [1] pp. Red cloth with gold lettering and a gold decoration on the front board and spine; top edge gilt. Illustrated with a map in the rear and with sixteen photogravure plates. Edited by his wife Dorothy Stanley. With the bookplate of Henry Cabot Lodge, the statesman and politician. The bookplate made by Tiffany & Co. Stanley's story in his own words, from childhood to his travels in Equatorial Africa. Stanley led a mercenary sort of life: he was born out of wedlock as John Rowlands, and was sent to a workhouse to be educated. He escaped and then fled to the docks and worked for a merchant whose name he assumed as his own. He immigrated to the U.S. and served in the Civil War, including at the Battle of Shiloh, but then deserted the U.S. Navy in 1864, shortly after joining. He worked mostly as a journalist until he was asked to assist in finding and rescuing David Livingstone. He would be commissioned by Leopold to chart and found the Congo State, which would become one of the most brutal examples of imperialism the world would see. Stanley concluded his travels by rescuing Emin Pasha, traversing Equatorial Africa to do it, and would tour Canada and the United States after the fact. A pleasing association copy of the explorer's story. Very Good+. Item #000011059
A small separation between the backstrip and the textblock and a subtle dampspot to the first few leaves, the edge of the map is rather brittle.
Price: $300.00