1085

Richard Francis Burton Handwritten Manuscript

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:8,000.00 - 10,000.00 USD
Richard Francis Burton Handwritten Manuscript

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Auction Date:2019 Sep 21 @ 13:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Very rare handwritten manuscript by Richard Francis Burton, unsigned, seven total pages, 4.5 x 7, Athenaeum Club, Pall Mall stationery. Penned in his difficult-to-decipher hand, the manuscript features copious historical and geographical notes related to Burton’s various travels and studies, with particular emphasis placed on the east coast of the African continent. On one of the sheets, Burton has integrated a wonderfully detailed hand-drawn map of the region covering Tanzania, Mozambique, the Congo, and Kenya, which locates various prominent waterways and lakes such as Lake Albert, Lake Victoria, and Lake Tanganyika, which Burton has centrally located on the map. Burton also makes reference to various publications throughout, which includes titles like “The Catenati Cultures of Sicily” and “The Life of Prince Henry of Portugal” by Richard Henry Major. In fine condition.

In June 1857, Burton and John Hanning Speke embarked on an expedition from Zanzibar that would carry them west into mainland Africa in search of an ‘inland sea’ and the possible discovery of the source of the Nile River. Aided by guides and porters and following the traditional trade route to Tabora, the party made their way to the town of Ujiji and soon thereafter cemented themselves as the first Westerners to reach the banks of the massive Lake Tanganyika. Both men were in grievous condition upon their arrival, however, with Speke virtually blind and unable to properly view the lake, and Burton barely capable of walking due to a bout of malaria, an illness that prevented him from joining Speke on his journey northward to Lake Nyanza, which he would rename as Lake Victoria.