The publication of the first edition of Missionary travels by John Murray was less than straightforward, not least because Livingstone regularly wrote to Murray to express his dissatisfaction at the "liberties" being taken with his manuscript and took exception to the quality of some of the illustrations, which were based on his own drawings. Despite these difficulties, the first printing of 12,000 copies sold out immediately, even with its hefty price tag of one guinea. By mid-December 1857 25,000 copies had been printed. Due to the various ongoing revisions and new print runs, the 1857 edition thus exists in at least eight variant printings. This copy has a rare separately printed pamphlet containing an index and additional leaf which give a description of fellow Scot Robert Moffat's mission at Kuruman, South Africa, and Livingstone's courtship of, and marriage to, Moffat’s daughter Mary.