Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa; Including a Sketch of Sixteen Years' Residence in the Interior of Africa
London: John Murray, 1857. First edition. Hardcover. 8vo. [5], vi-ix, [2], 2-687, [1] pp. Bound without the publisher's advertisements. Half contemporary green calf over textured cloth boards, spine in six compartments with a brown morocco label lettered in gilt on the spine; all edges marbled. Marbled endpapers and pastedowns. Illustrated with a fold-out chromolithograph frontispiece, with 23 plates, an additional folding plate, and two folding maps at the end of the volume. Also with an engraving of the tse-tse fly on the title page and with other in-text engravings. Completing the title page: "And a Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loanda on the West Coast; thence Across the Continent, Down the River Zambesi, to the Eastern Ocean. Mendelssohn 908. PMM 341. Livingstone's publications are of great importance in the history of travel and exploration. The author is remembered as a passionate missionary, an explorer, and an ardent opponent of the slave trade. This book is an account of Livingstone's exploration of Lake Ngami, the Zambesi River, and Victoria Falls (or Mosioatunya, the name the waterfall had before Livingstone arrived). The author also recounts his conversations and interactions with the chiefs Sebituane and Sekeletu, and includes some ethnographic details of the African people he met during his travels. An attractive example of one of Livingstone's most important books, widely regarded as a classic of its kind and an essential part of any serious collection of books on travel and exploration. Very Good. Item #000011477
Rebacked with the contemporary leather spine laid down, minor rubbing to the corners and some foxing to the plates.
Price: $750.00