Is My Copy of 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 a First Edition?

The points of issue

• The true first edition, printed by William Clowes and Sons, collates in two octavo volumes: volume I xiv, [1], 522 pages, volume II ix, 566 pages, bound in original brown pictorial cloth, the front boards decorated in black with African landscape scenes and centered with a gilt map of Africa crossed by the Livingstone River and framed by Lakes Victoria and Tanganyika
• It carries two frontispiece portraits, ten maps in total including two large folding maps each bound into a pocket at the end of its volume, and thirty-three wood-engraved plates with numerous in-text illustrations
• Thirty-two pages of publisher's advertisements dated April 1878 are bound in at the end of volume II

How Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington marked a first edition

• No printed edition statement on 19th-century firsts: use title-page date plus absence of any later-printing notice, and read the exact partnership style in the imprint (the firm's name changed repeatedly, which helps…
• Dated inserted advertisements or catalogue, usually at the rear; a first should not advertise later books.

Full Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington first-edition guide →

How to verify your copy, step by step

1. Find the copyright page — the verso (back) of the title page.
2. Confirm the first-edition statement — look for “First Edition,” “First Printing,” or the publisher’s equivalent wording.
3. Check for a number line or dated printing — the lowest number present is the printing; a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the tell.
4. Rule out a book-club edition — a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price marks a book-club copy.
5. Photograph four things — the front cover, spine, title page, and copyright page — the standard record for identification.

The dust jacket

For a collectible first edition the dust jacket matters as much as the book. Confirm the jacket is present and unclipped — the printed price should still be at the corner of the flap (a clipped corner or a price-less flap can indicate a book-club issue). First-state jackets can differ from later ones in the cover art, blurbs, or review quotations; where a specific first-state jacket point is known for this title it is noted above.

Binding & format

Where multiple bindings exist, the hardcover trade issue is usually (but not always) the precedence copy — confirm against the points above. Later printings often show cheaper cloth, thinner boards, or simplified spine stamping. A simultaneous signed or limited issue, when one exists, is a distinct state from the trade first.

Is this the true first?

The London edition (Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1878) is the true first, preceding the Harper & Brothers edition published in New York; the Harper edition is bound in pictorial green cloth rather than brown and carries a different plate count.P-035971

Frequently asked questions

Is my copy of 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 a first edition?

A first edition of 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 by Henry M. Stanley (Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington) is identified by: The true first edition, printed by William Clowes and Sons, collates in two octavo volumes: volume I xiv, [1], 522 pages, volume II ix, 566 pages, bound in original brown pictorial cloth, the front boards decorated in black with African landscape scenes and centered with a gilt map of Africa crossed by the Livingstone River and framed by Lakes…

How do I tell the first printing from a later one?

Check the copyright page. A stated first edition, a number line ending in 1, or a dated first printing with no later printings listed is the key. The London edition (Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington, 1878) is the true first, preceding the Harper & Brothers edition published in New York; the Harper edition is bound in pictorial green cloth rather than brown and carries a different plate count.

Is the book-club edition the same as the first?

No. Book-club editions reprint the text but are not the true first; look for a blind-stamp on the rear board or a jacket with no printed price.

I have a first edition of 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 — what should I do?

First, document the copy: photograph the copyright page (the number line and any edition statement) and the dust-jacket flap. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and decode the printing with the free First Edition Checker. Clearing out books? I take them as a free donation and make sure collectible copies are identified, not discarded: free pickup in the Albuquerque metro (scheduled by route), the 24/7 drop box at 5445 Edith Blvd NE, or donor-paid mail-in from anywhere in the US. Questions? Call or text 505-250-3804.

Glossary

First edition

Every copy printed from the first setting of type. Collectors usually want the first edition, first printing (the true first).

First printing / impression

A single press run from that setting. The first printing is the earliest and most desirable; later printings are still the first edition but not the true first.

Number line (printer's key)

A row of numbers on the copyright page (e.g. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). The lowest number present is the printing — a line including 1 marks a first printing (Random House deliberately ends at 2).

Points of issue

Specific physical details — a stated edition, a number line, a typo, a jacket state — that identify the true first printing.

Book-club edition (BCE)

A reprint made for a book club. Tells include a blind-stamped dot or square on the rear board and a dust jacket with no printed price. Not the true first.

First thus

The first appearance of a particular version (first paperback, first illustrated, first U.S. printing) — a first of that kind, not the first edition of the work.