#MC20
Ca. 1920
Watercolours each ca. 39 x 30cm (15.5 x 12 in.), painted on larger board ca. 54.5 x 37cm (21.5 x 14.5in.), two captioned "Dr. Livingstone" in pencil on verso and two captioned in blue crayon "Advance copy" Page 110-1 & page 221 respectively on verso. Corners of mounts with some mild wear but overall the collection is in very good condition.
The five vivid and evocative monochrome watercolours show: Dr. Livingstone and Henry Stanley; An audience with an African Ruler; an East African slave caravan; Dr. Livingstone's canoe with three native rowers being capsized by a Hippopotamus; Dr. Livingstone waving goodbye to Henry Stanley. Leo Bates was a prolific boys' adventure book illustrator from about 1920 to 1950. He illustrated Coral Island, The Road to Mandalay, Elephant Swamp, Island Born: A Tale of Hawaii, The Lost Crown of Ghorapora, Peril on the Amazon, etc.., as well as illustrations for Wide World and Astounding Stories magazines. These watercolours are archetypes for illustrations in one of Bates' publications as evidenced by the notations on the verso of a couple of the watercolours.
