[LIVINGSTONE, David -- The Zambesi Expedition]. A collection of letters addressed to David Livingstone, the majority on the Zambesi expedition, comprising autograph letters signed by: Sir Roderick MURCHISON (1 January 1859, 7 pages, 8vo, with a franked envelope addressed 'to Dr Livingstone: FMS & FRGS HM. Consul Zambesi River Africa'), John WASHINGTON (two letters, 5 December 1859 and 5 March 1860, 5½ pages, 4to, torn at folds), Jose Meillita NUNES (Quilimane, 20 February 1861, enclosing a letter written the previous day by C.J. da Silva in Portuguese), Charles LIVINGSTONE (21 December 1864, 4 pages, 8vo), and Ludvig Momsen (Nyborg, Denmark, n.d.); together with A PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPH SIGNED OF ONE OF LIVINGSTONE'S 'BOYS', Matthew Livingstone (1918, torn at left margin), with three other photographs, and a cut signature of Jacob Wainwright, and Alexander George Findlay, Remarks on Dr Livingstone's Last Journey, 1867, inscribed by the author; and: a letter by G. Edwin Seuares(?) to Colonel Merewether (at Aden), Zanzibar, 4 April 1866, 6 pages, 4to (tears at edges, traces of mounting). A FINE COLLECTION OF LETTERS TO LIVINGSTONE, MOST RELATING TO THE ZAMBESI EXPEDITION. Murchison writes enthusiastically in response to early news of the Zambesi expedition, 'navigating the Zambesi is about the most marvellous of your performances', deploring Captain Bedingfield's behaviour ('his conduct astonishes me'), and giving news of his geological researches in Scotland and of the Geographical Society. The letters from Captain Washington at the Admiralty discuss the commissioning of the first two vessels for the Zambesi expedition: the first announces the assignment of £5,000 for what was to be the Ma-Robert, and proposes dimensions of 'say 100 feet long, 14 ft beam, 3 ft draft of water'; the letter also refers to Speke's planned expedition 'towards the Source of the Nile'. The second letter concerns the disastrous Ma-Robert's successor, the Pioneer, to be constructed of wood, also regretting the departures of Livingstone's artist (Baines) and geologist (Thornton), and receiving coolly the explorer's suggestions of a British colony near the coast. The letters from Nunes and da Silva give interesting evidence of Livingstone's relations with the Portuguese on the Zambesi: they respond in friendly terms to Livingstone's letters from Kongone, and ask for more news. The letter of Ludvig Momsen is an amusing example of the consequences of Livingstone's celebrity: the young Dane applies for a position on one of the explorers 'adventures and journeys', giving his age as 17, and claiming to be an expert shot with rifle and pistol: 'I also can see and hear well'. The letter of Charles Livingstone discusses the division of profits from their book The Zambesi and its Tributaries, proposing that Charles have all the profits from the American edition. The signed photograph of Matthew Wellington is inscribed on the verso apparently in the hand of the missionary W.E. Hoyle: 'This is a photo of Matthew Wellington, with his signature given to me when I interviewed him at Mombasa 1918. He was one of Livingstone's "boys" with him when he died in Africa'. Jacob Wainwright, whose cut signature is included in the lot, was another of Livingstone's 'boys', and the only African present at Livingstone's funeral in Westminster Abbey. Seuares reports Livingstone's departure [for Lake Nyasa]: 'Dr. Livingstone has got fairly under way. He left us on the 19th ult. and is now following his camels at Mikandan just north of the Rovuma', also discussing reported sightings of captives taken by the Somalis. (12)