# Is "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 a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** 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, 1878) 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 Victoria and Tanganyika. 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.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- 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
- Publisher imprint reads Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Henry M. Stanley |
| Publisher | Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington |
| Year | 1878 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | 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… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## 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.

## 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.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *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 a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/through-the-dark-continent-or-the-sources-of-the-nile-around
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.