A very RARE and beautiful set from Henry M. Stanley..."Through The Dark Continent Or The Sources of the Nile Around The Great Lakes of Equatorial Africa and Down The Livingstone River To The Atlantic Ocean" published by Newnes in 1899, first edition thus with a New Preface by the Author especially written for this Edition!!! The expedition was financed by the New York Herald and theDaily Telegraph, with the ambitious objective to complete the exploration and mapping of the Central African Great Lakes and rivers, while circumnavigating Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika and locating the source of the Nile. Both objectives were completed. .An account of a dangerous exploration, which saw numerous members of Stanley's crew die. Stanley's diary shows that he started with two-hundred-and-twenty-eight men, and reached Portugal with only one-hundred-and-fourteen, with Stanley being the only European left alive. With the publication of the present work, Stanley coined the term 'Dark Continent' for Africa. Volume one has some 16 full-page plates with 42 smaller illustrations in the text and seven maps full page and one of which is a very large map showing the outline Stanley's route in very good co ndition.Volume number two shows a list of the illustrations at the front of the book and these include 17 full-page illustrations and 72 smaller illustrations set mostly and wrapped around the text. Books in overall very good condition....Inside very light stains but overall very good and complete, externally half leather with light wear around edges and corners, shelfwear- see photos. Marbled edges and endpapers. Very beautiful and attractive books!!! Scarce.