Although some of its life was spent in a (non-lending) library, this is a complete and near very good copy (see condition notes) of the first edition of one of the most important books on African exploration to have been written and published in the 19th century.
The bevelled terra-cotta cloth-boards are embossed on all faces - with black and gilt illustrations and rules on the upper panel and black and gilt lettering, a further illustration and rules on the spine. The main cover illustrations are the famous "Dr Livingstone I presume" and Lake Tanganyika.
The endpapers are plain turquoise. The frontispiece is a tissue-protected mounted sepia portrait of the author above his facsimile signature. There follow xxiii pp of prelims, including "Introductory" and errata, 736 pp of text, appendix, glossary and index, followed by 8 pp of publisher's announcements.
There are 28 inserted full-page engraved illustrations, five inserted folding maps, all but one in colour, the largest of which has 15 panels, and a further map and 25 smaller illustrations in the text.
CONDITION NOTES
All the text leaves and inserted illustrations and maps are present, though in four cases (one a transposition of an illustration and a folding map) their positions vary slightly from those indicated in the lists of illustrations and maps.
Two spine tears have been repaired, as have the joins between the boards and the book-block (shown in the images) and cracks between pp 240/241 and 256/257. Unrepaired are two small tears - one in each of two of the folding maps.
There is a library reference at the foot of the spine, a faded library stamp on the front free endpaper, three words in ink on the verso of this endpaper, another library stamp on the half-title, and a small binder's sticker (Burn & Co) on the back paste-down.
The binding has lost some of its flexibility, with many leaves no longer soft.
The frontispiece is lightly foxed but there is almost no other foxing except to the publisher's announcements, which are printed on inferior paper. The contents of the book are unmarked and undiscoloured.
- Binding Condition: Good+ (see description)
- Overall Condition: Good+ (see description)
- Size: 230 x 150 x 60; weight 1.5 kg
- Sold By: Fontein Books
- Contact Person: Richard Proctor-Sims
- Country: South Africa
- Email: [email protected]
- Telephone: 051 773 0050/048 079 546 4032
- Preferred Payment Methods: Eft (South Africa), SWIFT (rest of world), or $ checks for US or Australian buyers
- Trade Associations: AA Approved
