Dr Livingstone book bought for 99p to sell for £1,000

Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones examines the book Livingstone's Missionary Travels in South Africa

A rare book on the African adventures of explorer Dr David Livingstone is expected to sell for more than £1,000 - after a hairdresser from Carmarthen bought it for 99p at a car boot sale.

The book, Livingstone's Missionary Travels in South Africa, was once owned by the explorer and pioneering medic.

The signed 1857 edition was bought by Eddie Davies, 67, at a car boot sale in Carmarthen seven years ago.

He said selling the book at auction on Friday was like "winning the lottery".

Recalling his lucky find, Mr Davies said: "It's a one-off. I don't think it'll happen again.

"When I saw that it was signed by a famous person I knew it would be worth something.

"My only regret is there were a lot of old books in a cardboard box at that car boot sale and I didn't look at them.

"I check all the books at sales now."

Dr David Livingstone's signature in the leather-bound volume

Cardiff Auctioneer Ben Rogers Jones, of Rogers Jones & Co, confirmed the "rare book" had a guide price of £1,000 to £1,500.

He said: "It is a real privilege to be able to turn the same pages as the great man in the knowledge that Livingstone owned the volume himself before gifting it to a friend."

Published by John Murray, the volume covers every detail of the Scottish explorer's journey.

Dr Livingstone travelled across uncharted Africa as a missionary doctor and explorer between 1841 and 1856.

The book described his journeys across the Kalahari desert, up the Zambezi River and his naming of the largest waterfall in the world the Victoria Falls on the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe.

David Livingstone was a missionary and explorer in Africa

He returned to Britain a national hero and published his best-selling book in 1857.

The book being auctioned has a personal inscription from Livingstone to a Major General Charles Murray May.

The message, dated London, 29 October, 1857, reads: "With the kindest remembrances of his much obliged and attached friend David Livingstone".

The bound volume covers 32 chapters and 47 illustrations and details Dr Livingstone's 16 years of research in Africa.

An illustration from the book which was published in 1857