Beschreibung:

BURTON, Richard Francis Zanzibar; City, Island, and Coast. London: Tinsley Brothers, 1872. 2 volumes, 8 o (213 x 124 mm). Folding map, 11 engraved plates and 4 plans (folding map with tears and scattered foxing, plates trimmed close). 19th-century half calf (vol. I with upper cover and back strip detached, light wear to edges). FIRST EDITION, second issue (?). Burton had not been in Zanzibar since 1856 while outfitting his expedition with Speke and in 1859 to recuperate from that expedition. He managed to compile enough notes, however, to fill a 1000-page work. In 1871 when he returned to England from Damascus in dire financial circumstances, he luckily recovered the long-lost manuscript of his Zanzibar experiences and published almost immediately, desperate for financial stability. He delivered the finished manuscript to Tinsley in November 1871 and it was published by January 22. The book was well-received but reviewers and readers took exception to his "unkind remarks" about Speke. Penzer p. 88-89; Casada 72; Spink 49.