Henry M. Stanley Autographs, Memorabilia & Collectibles

Sir Henry M. Stanley (1841-1904, born as John Rowlands) was 17 when he came to the United States in 1858 and was adopted by a New Orleans merchant named Henry M. Stanley, who gave him his own name. In 1865, the 24-year-old Stanley became a newspaper correspondent and traveled to Asia Minor, Ethiopia, Crete, and Spain. James Gordon Bennett, publisher of the "New York Herald", commissioned him to lead an expedition into central Africa to find missionary David Livingstone. In November 1871, Stanley "found" him, greeting him with the famous remark: "Dr. Livingstone, I presume?" From 1874 on, Stanley led various exploring expeditions into Africa. He discovered Lake Edward, circumnavigated Lake Victoria, traced the southern sources of the Nile River, surveyed Lake Tanganyika, and opened up the Congo region. The Congo Free State was formed in 1885. The Congo city of Stanleyville, now Kisangani, was named in his honor. Becoming a repatriated British citizen, he served in Parliament from 1895-1900. He was knighted in 1899.