THROUGH THE DARK CONTINENT, or the Sources of the Nile Around the Great lakes of Equatorial Africa and Down the Livingstone River to the Atlantic Ocean

London: George Newnes, Limited, 1899. 2 volumes. The First edition to include the new preface by the author and also the first in the new larger format. A vast profusion of illustrations and maps throughout, including a very large folding map in volume one. 8vo, publisher’s original red cloth with lettering and extensive pictorial decorations on the upper covers and spines in gilt, black, gray and yellow. xxxii, 400; xiv, 419 pp., inclusive of index. A very handsome set, about as fine as one could hope to find, the cloth bright with vivid decoration, all hinges solid and tight, internally fresh, clean, and sound with just a mere hint of the expected age evidence confined primarily to the preliminaries. SCARCE AND IMPORTANT WORK BY STANLEY IN THE TWO VOLUME FORMAT. After the death of Livingstone, Stanley resolved to return to Africa and finish his work, and also to resolve some of the problems introduced by Burton and Speke. Now and elusive edition, in it Stanley provides an entirely new and extensive preface in which he brings the reader up to date with developments and discoveries in Africa since this journey was accomplished.
When Stanley made his first journey, he was one of a very few white people on the entire continent. Within the twenty years which elapsed after Stanley’s first journey, the continent was being viewed as a commercial, political, and strategic destiny by many of the countries in Europe. The new preface discusses these many changes and his prophetic visions of the continent’s future.
The larger format used for this edition makes the reading easier and the study of maps, charts and illustrations far more enjoyable.