Emin Relief Expedition Star 1887-89, silver, hallmarked Birmingham 1889; together with a good example of Henry Morton Stanley's autograph,’Faithfully Yours, Henry M. Stanley’, extremely fine £600-700

This lot was sold as part of a special collection, The Allan and Janet Woodliffe Collection of Medals relating to the Reconquest and Pacification of The Sudan 1896-1956.

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This medal was instituted by the Royal Geographical Society and awarded to native personnel of the expedition led by Henry Morton Stanley to rescue Emin Pasha, Governor of Equatoria Province in the Southern Sudan, before he could be captured by the Khalifa’s forces. About 175 of these awards were distributed to the native bearers in Africa.

Following the death of the Mahdi, his successor the Khalifa continued to advance his interests, so much so that only one Egyptian outpost remained in the Sudan, far to the south, in steamy Equatoria, near the border with Uganda, where one of Gordon’s Lieutenants, Emin Pasha (Eduard Schnitzer), held out in the small township of Kavalli on Lake Albert. Emin had previously been told by the government that he was on his own and that he should get out as best he could but he chose to stay put. However, public sympathy decreed that in the wake of the death of Gordon, he, at least, should be saved. He was duly “rescued” in 1889, apparently somewhat against his will, by an expedition led by the explorer Henry Morton Stanley, the same man who had found Dr. David Livingstone in 1871. Stanley’s expedition made an epic and magnificent trek from the Atlantic coast of the Congo Free State, to Zanzibar, picking up Emin on the way, the first time that the continent had been crossed from west to east.

One of the last major expeditions to explore Africa, it was a remarkable achievement, about which many books have been written and many articles published on the internet. Stanley returned to Europe in May 1890 to tremendous public acclaim; both he and his officers received numerous awards, honorary degrees, and speaking engagements. In June alone his newly published book about the expedition sold 150,000 copies; sold with a the paperback copy of Dark Safari, The Life behind the Legend of Henry Morton Stanley, by John Bierman.