Is My 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 dat…
• 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 — an unclipped, priced jacket matters. Confirm the points of issue above against your copy, and use the free First Edition Checker to decode the printing. To sell, the author’s collecting guide covers the market. And if you are clearing books in the Albuquerque area, the New Mexico Literacy Project offers free pickup, any condition, and makes sure collectible copies are identified rather than discarded.

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.