In Darkest Africa by STANLEY, Henry M - 1890: or, The Quest, Rescue, and Retreat of Emin, Governor of Equatoria.

London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington Limited,, 1890. 2 volumes, octavo, original brick red pictorial cloth, decoration in grey, black and gilt, map endpapers in pale green. Frontispiece and coloured folding map to each, folding map and coloured profile sketch to Volume II, 36 other plates in all, numerous illustrations to the text, map endpapers. Slightly rubbed, spines a little creased and crumpled head and tail, corners bumped, hinges just a touch loose with some superficial splits, both large maps typically with short, clean closed tears, presents well, overall very good. First edition, first impression. A well-preserved copy in the cloth of Stanley's famous account of his expedition to relieve Emin Pasha (Eduard Schnitzer), the beleaguered governor of equatorial Sudan, contains some of his most celebrated writing, especially his account of the tortuous 450-mile passage through the dense Ituri rain forest. Stanley's dealings with Emin Pasha (who proved resistant to being "rescued"), his abandonment of his own rear column and his wider motives for his mission have all come under suspicion then and since, but the book remains a classic of African exploration. In the course of the journey Stanley met Roger Casement, then in service on the Congo, discovered the great snow-capped range of Ruwenzori, the Mountains of the Moon, a new lake which he named the Albert Edward Nyanza and a large south-western extension of Lake Victoria. Translations of In Darkest Africa appeared quickly in French, German, Italian, Spanish, and Dutch while sales of the English trade editions reached 150,000 copies. Howgego IV, S60.