[Rarebooks] FS: Fine Letter by Explorer Sir Henry Stanley regarding Gorilla Speech

[Charles Agvent]

STANLEY,  Sir  Henry  Morton.  AUTOGRAPH  LETTER  SIGNED  (ALS). 3
October  1893. A fine 3-1/2 page AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED by the famous
explorer  of the African continent. Written on 4-1/4" x 7"  stationery
imprinted  "Cadoxton  Lodge, Neath, South Wales, the addressee's  name
indecipherable.  Stanley  apologizes for the delay  in  responding--"a
busy   man's  greatest  trouble  is  the   duty  imposed  on  him   by
letters"--and  thanks the recipient for his "good opinion of my  book"
and  his  "sympathy  in my loss of a faithful  friend."  Stanley  then
responds  to  comments  about   Prof.  Garniri's(?)  experiments  with
monkeys  and speech and the resulting newspaper reports: "The clipping
you  sent to me leaves the suspicion that it is one of these elaborate
&  solemn jokes which Americans look to make upon all subjects. Though
the  Professor's experiments may result in nothing yet the  industry &
zeal  he displays in attempting to ascertain whether anything of value
can  be  found by him deserve commendation.... There would be  nothing
remarkable  nevertheless  in  the  fact  that  certain  chimpanzee  or
gorilla  vocal  emissions  resemble Maori or even English  words,  let
alone  Latin or Greek." We wonder if this professor might be  Guiseppe
Guarnieri  who first described "Guarnieri bodies" found in lesions  of
smallpox  and  who first reported these finds in 1893. In any  event a
letter  with  outstanding  Africa-related content by Stanley,  and  as
such  very  scarce.  Minor  tears at fold, light  edgewear  and  mount
traces. Near Fine                                             $2000.00

-- 

All books subject to prior sale.  Cash with order; institutions may be 
billed.  Postage additional:  $9.00 for the first book, $5.00 each 
thereafter.  Overseas postage billed at approximate cost. Pennsylvania 
residents must add 6% sales tax.  Mastercard, Visa, American Express and 
Discover accepted.  Books may be returned within 10 days of receipt for 
any reason provided they are in the same condition as sent and prior 
notice is given. Please insure returns for their full value.  We carry a 
diverse stock with major specialties including Modern and 19th Century 
Literary First Editions, Autographed Books, and Limited Editions Club 
books.  We are celebrating our 20th year of business and are proud to be 
members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and 
the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) as well as 
the Manuscript Society and the Universal Autograph Collectors Club 
(UACC).  Please feel free to contact us with any wants or offerings. 
Thank you.

CHARLES AGVENT
291 Linden Road
Mertztown, PA  19539-8750
610-682-4750
agvent at erols.com
Visit our home page:  http://www.erols.com/agvent