Offered for sale is a First Edition, Two (2) Volume Set of “In Darkest Africa” by H.M. Stanley, 1891, illustrated. Charles Scribner's Sons New York publishers. Perhaps no adventurer is more closely connected with Africa than Lord Stanley (1841-1904), whose various expeditions did more to reveal the nature of that continent than any modern explorer. At the turn of that century, the interior of the African continent was largely unknown to the American and European public. With the accounts of great explorers like Stanley, readers became thrilled by stories African expeditions and longed to follow in the footsteps of these explorers. His 1887 mission to relieve the besieged governor of Egypt, his last mission to Africa, ended miserably when Stanley arrived only to learn that the governor did not care to be relieved, but instead was angry at the Englishman for interfering in his affairs. This account contains the harrowing details of Stanley’s journey through the nearly impenetrable Ituri, or Great Congo, Forest, which he traversed not once but three times over the course of his travels. The conditions were brutal; sometimes the expedition could achieve no more than three or four hundred yards an hour. Along the way, Stanley compiled important data on the Pygmies and discovered the Ruwenzori, or “Mountains of the Moon.” The perilous journey nearly cost Stanley his life and only a third of the men with whom he set out returned alive. The green cloth bound gold gilt illustration stamped hardcover volumes are in good overall condition, scuffing observed to covers and edges. Intact pages exhibit age tanning and foxing throughout, no other obvious marring noted. Each volume measures 6"W x 9"L x 1.75"D approximately, 2lb .14oz weight each approximate.