Burton, Richard Francis

discussing the personal wealth of the Sultan, the region's rich resources and recent changes in the economy, working draft with extensive revisions, brown ink with occasional additions in pencil, text written first on numbered rectos (1-8) with additions, revisions and notes on the facing versos, 13 pages, plus blanks, 8vo, mid-1870s, bound with a transcription in modern speckled calf, strengthened at folds, light staining to outer leaves

Sotheby's New York, 10 December 1993, lot 183

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"...the abolition of slavery has greatly diminished the number of hands in the Island and on the Coast of Zanzibar, which are equally rich in cloves and in pure copal ... not to speak of the finest ivory in the world..."

 AN ANALYSIS OF THE RESOURCES OF BARGHASH BIN SAID, SULTAN OF ZANZIBAR. Barghash was evidently negotiating for a loan from Britain, and Burton here explains the extensive resources that underpin his creditworthiness. He was the second sultan of Zanzibar after the division of the Arab Sultanate of Muscat and Oman in 1856, and ruled vast swathes of East Africa from his capital of Stone Town. Burton’s report is a snapshot of Zanzibar in the years immediately following Sultan Barghash’s abolition of the slave trade in 1870. Burton had visited the island of Zanzibar with Speke in the 1850s and his book, Zanzibar, had been published in 1872.