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Livingstone, David

Livingstone, David (lĭv´ĭngstәn, -stōn´´), 1813-73, Scottish missionary and explorer in Africa, the first European to cross the African continent. From 1841 to 1852, while a medical missionary for the London Missionary Society in what is now Botswana, he crossed the Kalahari desert and reached (1849) Lake Ngami. He discovered the Zambezi River in 1851. Hoping to abolish the slave trade by opening Africa to Christian commerce and missionary stations, he traveled (1853) to Luanda on the west coast. Following the Zambezi River, he discovered and named Victoria Falls (1855) and reached the east coast at Quelimane, Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique), in 1856. His Missionary Travels (1857) in South Africa is an account of that journey. Appointed British consul at Quelimane, he was given command of an expedition (1857-63) to explore the Zambezi region.

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REFERENCES

  • Holmes, T.Journey to Livingston: Exploration of an Imperial Myth. Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993.
  • Jeal, T.Livingstone. London: Heinemann, 1973.
  • Livingstone, D.Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. London: John Murray, 1857.
  • Livingstone, D.Livingstone, C.Narrative of an Expedition to the Zambesi and Its Tributaries. London: John Murray, 1865.
  • Parsons, J. W.The Livingstones at Kolobeng 1847-1852. Gaberone: Botswana Society and Pula Press, 1997.
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From Credo

  • Seaver, G.David Livingstone: His Life and Letters. London: Lutterworth Press, 1957.
  • Shepperson, G. “Livingstone and the Years of Preparation 1813-1857” in Livingstone: Man of Africa, edited by Pachai, B.. London: Longman, 1973.
  • Holmes, Timothy, Journey to Livingstone: Exploration of an Imperial Myth, Edinburgh: Canongate Press, 1993.
  • Jeal, Tim, Livingstone, London: Heinemann, and New York: Putnam, 1973.
  • Northcott, Cecil, David Livingstone: His Triumph, Decline, and Fall, Guildford, Surrey: Lutterworth Press, and Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1973.
  • Ransford, Oliver, David Livingstone: The Dark Interior, London: John Murray, and New York: St Martin's Press, 1978.
  • Seaver, George, David Livingstone: His Life and Letters, London: Lutterworth Press, and New York: Harper, 1957.
  • Shepperson, George, “Livingstone and the Years of Preparation 1813-1857” in Livingstone, Man of Africa: Memorial Essays, 1873-1973, edited by Pachai, Bridglal, London: Longman, 1973.