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Lot 159:David Livingstone Signed Letter 1865

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:540.00 USD Estimated At:900.00 - 1,200.00 USD
Lot  159:David Livingstone Signed Letter 1865
<b>Autographs</b><hr><b>Dr. David Livingstone Banks Money
For Final Exploration of Africa!
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<b>DAVID LIVINGSTONE. Scottish missionary and explorer of Africa to whom Henry Stanley addressed his famous query, upon finding the supposedly dead explorer deep in the African interior, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”</b>
Autograph Letter Signed, 4 pages, 5” x 8”, Glascow, May 26, 1865; seemingly to James Young, the inventor of paraffin and a crucial backer of Livingstone’s final trip to Africa. Very Fine. In part: “After writing the note which Mr. Parown will show you I came down to Glascow and am now writing this in Mr. Nicolson’s office. Will take the check for 2315 [pounds] to Messrs. Coutts [Livingstone’s bank] and endorse it for me and then hand it over to my broker Mr. Aston. This will save time as I cannot be in London before a fortnight and the money is to be in Mr. Aston’s hands before the 29th. I daresay Messrs. Coutts will oblige me in this manner....As to the terms of my debenture you had better show Mr. Nicolson’s letter and the draft receipt referred to to Mr. Aston.”


With 500 pounds from the Royal Geographical Society, 500 more from the Foreign Office, and Young’s 1000 pound gift, Livingstone was now ready to set off again to search for the source of the Nile...a quest that would in failure, and his death of disease.