Fatima's Garden, Mumbai; Mostafaei by Sufi Said Muhammad Abid, c.1900. Presentation copy inscribed by Henry Morton Stanley "to my very good friend Kabil al Sharhad, with my best wishes Henry M Stanley".
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Signed presentation books from Stanley are incredibly rare and valuable, with one given to James Tooley selling for $30,000 (USD) at Christie's lot 154 22nd June 2012.
This book is absolutely full with fantastic provenance and history, including three loose contemporary albumen prints of Stanley's Trans-African expedition, one of which appears in the first edition of Through the Dark Continent, 1878. These have pencilled in details to their reverso, probably also from c.1900. There are also numerous ownership stamps of Nazir Ahmad, two bookseller's receipts tipped in to the endpapers from c.1926, the ownership inscription of Zaj Mohammad of Nairobi to the rear board, and of course the inscription from Henry Stanley to Kabil al Sharhad.
These all sum to an incredibly rich history associated with this book, intimately linked with Henry Morton Stanley and his expeditions through Africa. It's fantastic to think that this book may well have accompanied Stanley alongside his expedition, and the book certainly presents as so with the heavily worn binding. It is internally in very nice condition and even includes the original blue wrappers bound in.
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The inscription from Henry Morton Stanley has been independently verified as genuine for which proof is available upon request.
Condition:
Heavily worn binding lacking some of the original leather with boards chipped. The book certainly has a charm to it associated with a Trans-African expedition! The boards contain some stamps and an ownership inscription further detailing the rich history of the book. Stanley's pencilled inscription to the front pastedown is in excellent condition, very slightly affected by an adjacent dark mark with the front pastedown also toned as commensurate with age. Contemporary albumen prints toned to their reverse sides. The text block of the book itself is in excellent condition with three leaves toned at the corner due to cellotape attached to the middle leaf approximately half way through the text block. The original blue covers are bound in to the book. There are several ownership stamps and inscriptions present on the rear pastedown and endpapers.
