Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries,; and of the Discovery of the Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa, 1858-1864 by Livingstone, David and Livingstone, Charles - 1866

New York: Harper & Brothers, 1866. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. First US edition, octavo size, 660 pp., folding map at rear. David Livingstone (1813-1873) was one of the most popular British heroes of the Victorian era, a scientific investigator and explorer, imperial reformer, anti-slavery crusader, and advocate of commercial and colonial expansion. He hoped to gain fame by discovering the source of the Nile River, which fame he than planned to use to end the "immense evil" of the East African Arab-Swahili slave trade. In both the Preface and its Post-script, Mr. Livingstone goes on at length about his abhorrence of the slave trade, and his concerns that Portugal, then in command of a large tract of the coastline, was only paying lip service to its ending; he lauds the Americans for having recently "rid themselves of the incubus of slavery". ____DESCRIPTION: Bound in brown pebbled cloth, gilt lettering and blind-embossed decorative rules on the spine, double blind-embossed ruled border on both boards, pale peach endpapers, double-spread frontispiece is a two-page tipped-in illustration of a "Bird's eye view of the Great Cataracts of the Zambesi...", title-page vignette, thirty-six wood-engraved illustrations (twelve full-page), folding map at the rear of Livingston's travels with expedition routes in red; octavo size (9.5" by 6.25"), pagination: [i-v] vi-xxii, [1] 2- 638, [folding map], [1] 2-6 pp. of publisher's ads. The first U.S. edition, with the London edition having been published in 1865. ___CONDITION: Volume is near fine, with straight corners with minimal rubbing, a strong, square text block with solid hinges, the interior is clean and bright, all plates are present as called for, and entirely free of prior owner markings; a few light marks to the binding which is otherwise clean, the spine is sunned, light foxing to the endpapers, a single dark spot on the leaf for pp. 331-332 (text easily readable), the folding map with a single closed tear where it is tipped into the volume and a few unintended creases at the folds; overall near fine. ___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard does not always cover costs; please inquire for details. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB, and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.