The Man Who Presumed. A biography of Henry M. Stanley

(London, Longmans, 1958). 8vo; original red boards somewhat soiled, faded and rubbed; spine sl. cocked; no dustwrapper; endpapers and prelim's a little foxed; pp. xvi + 334, incl. index; black-and-white plates; maps. Fair condition. "This book tells of many travels and incidents, much movement, action of all sorts; for Stanley, although his gainful occupation was saying things, was essentially a man who did things. It is through his deeds that we must see the man, but, as in most lives, a man's history cannot be separated from his character and personality. The crammed incidents of Stanley's life are as diversified as they are romantic: he was a storekeeper, soldier, sailor, newspaper reporter, explorer, builder, statesman, author, politician; he knew wars, famine, disease, brutality, poverty, wealth, and - eventually - love. But this is more than a simple adventure story; the stocky man with the boyish look and perpetual frown hardly fits the conventional picture of the adventurer. His complex, restless personality with strong drives, unusual abilities, fierce ambition, and a strange attraction to and repulsion from love make of him an interesting psychological study." .