STANLEY (HENRY MORTON, 1841-1904): Autograph letter signed to Mrs Bruce (formerly Agnes Livingstone), 30 Sackville Street, 28 January 1878, thanking her for her congratulations on his return from his trans-African expedition, 'the completion of your great father's discoveries, ... it was like a legacy if you please left me by Livingstone, & I was bound to see the work through', mentioning the sad news of her brother, Tom's death, Agnes's marriage, and a recently published book, 'The map is excellent but the book might have been enlivened a little I think. - the last portions however ought to have been left just as the poor old man penned them. They are more eloquent in their broken integral records than the most perfect composition', sending his respects to her aunt, and thanking her again, 4 pages 8vo, autograph envelope

Details

STANLEY (HENRY MORTON, 1841-1904): Autograph letter signed to Mrs Bruce (formerly Agnes Livingstone), 30 Sackville Street, 28 January 1878, thanking her for her congratulations on his return from his trans-African expedition, 'the completion of your great father's discoveries, ... it was like a legacy if you please left me by Livingstone, & I was bound to see the work through', mentioning the sad news of her brother, Tom's death, Agnes's marriage, and a recently published book, 'The map is excellent but the book might have been enlivened a little I think. - the last portions however ought to have been left just as the poor old man penned them. They are more eloquent in their broken integral records than the most perfect composition', sending his respects to her aunt, and thanking her again, 4 pages 8vo, autograph envelope

Lot Essay

Stanley writes to Livingstone's much-loved eldest daughter, on his return from his great expedition of 1874-1877, in which, crossing the continent from East to West, he laid the foundations of the Congo, and of the Anglo-Egyptian domination of the Upper Nile. A cryptic sentence, 'I was proud that C ... had left the task to me to do, not that I love being made roast beef any more than any other man' recalls the often snide and mocking comments which had greeted his account of the discovery of Livingstone, 'C' probably being Lieutenant Verney Lovett Cameron, sent out by the Royal Geographical Society to look for the latter. Agnes Livingstone Bruce, however, loyally supported him, and had welcomed his triumph in 1877 declaring that her heart was filled with gratitude and delight

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