Well, here’s another well-known book. From explorer Henry Morton Stanley, it’s How I Found Livingston. This is the 1872 first edition. A few old-timers may remember Spencer Tracy playing Henry Stanley in the movie “Stanley and Livingston.” The book allows you the opportunity to see Henry Stanley played by Henry Stanley. Item 128. £500. For those who collect Stanley, there is also Hermann von Wassmann’s Afrika; Schilderungen und Rathachlage… I know this sounds like a German publication and what would this have to do with Stanley? It seems that this book provided important information for those living in the German Protectorates, and this was Stanley’s personal copy, given to him and inscribed by the author. The inscription says it was given to “Bula Matari,” which was Stanley’s Swahili name. Item 149. £250.

Those interested in big game hunting in Africa may wish to add William Cornwallis’ Narrative of an Expedition into Southern Africa, during the years 1836, and 1837… to their collection. Allsworth describes this as “the first printed account of an African hunting safari.” This is the first issue of the first edition of a book that later was published under the title “The Wild Sports of Southern Africa.” Item 73. £2,500.

Henry Abraham Stern is not a typical name for a Christian missionary, but there is always room for a surprise. Stern was a convert who spent his life trying to convert far-flung Jewish communities to his beliefs. Much of that time would be spent with the Falashas of Ethiopia. His work evidently was not always appreciated, as one King Theodore imprisoned him for four years, but he was admired back at his mission’s headquarters in London. Around 1900, they published this biography by Edwin Dawson as part of their “Splendid Lives Series” entitled Henry A. Stern. Missionary Traveller and Abyssinian Captive. Item 49. £150.

An obscure title regarding the opening of the Suez Canal is Egypt: The Opening of the Great Canal by Alexander Russel. Russel was a Scottish newspaperman, rising from a reporter to editor of the “Scotsman” of Edinburgh. Evidently it was this connection to the press that got him an invitation from the Viceroy to witness the opening of the canal. This 1869 book is his report. Item 110. £150.

Sir John Ross faced a very different set of challenges than did the African explorers. For instance, keeping warm. Ross spent four winters in the Arctic from 1829-1833, three trapped in ice, searching for a Northwest Passage. Ross is credited with finding the magnetic north pole and adding much scientific knowledge, even if he didn’t find the passageway. Ross recounts this, his second of three expeditions, in Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of the North-West Passage… Item 109. £750