An Important Work on Suppression of the Slave Trade
Burton's Scarce Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome
A Finely Bound Set in Full Morocco Gilt - 1864
Burton, Richard F. A MISSION TO GELELE, KING OF DAHOME. With Notices of the So-called "Amazons," the Grand Customs, the Human Sacrifices, the Present State of the Slave Trade, and the Negro's Place in Nature. (London: Tinsley Brothers, 1864) 2 volumes. First edition of Vol. 1 and "Second Edition" of Vol. II, actually the first edition overprinted for marketing and advertising purposes. With two engraved frontispieces. 8vo, handsomely bound in full dark green morocco, the spines with raised bands gilt decorated, the compartments with double gilt fillet rules and gilt tooled corner pieces, maroon morocco lettering labels gilt, covers with gilt rolled borders, gilt rolled turnovers, top edges gilt. xx, 386; vi, 412 pp. A very handsome copy indeed, the bindings in excellent condition, bright and clean, the text-blocks clean and tight though with some occasional edge mellowing to some leaves or browning caused by age.
One of West Africa's more brutal dictators, Gelele was widely infamous for his female "Amazon" army and such florid atrocities as cannibalism, impaling, and mass human sacrifice. His attacks on neighboring states, persecution of native Christians, and encouragement of the slave trade alarmed France and Great Britain; the latter annexed Lagos in an effort to curtail Gelele's activities.
In 1861 while in West Africa, Burton asked the Foreign Office to send him to Dohome, but his request was denied. He made a secret unofficial journey there and lingered at the capital for 5 days and met with the King briefly. His first impressions were that Gelele was not as savage or as bloody as purported by other European travelers. He described the king, "He looks a king of black men, without tenderness of heart or weakness of head. His person is athletic, upwards of six feet high, lithe, thin flanked and broad shouldered. His eyes are red, bleared and inflamed and his tatoo has three short parallel and perpendicular lancet cuts, situated nearer the scalp than the eyebrows."
Later, the Foreign Office formally sent Burton back to Dahome to protest the human sacrifices, slave trade, and other inhumane practices. These volumes chronicle the barbarian practices that he witnessed, and his many attempts to convince the King to abandon his bloody rituals and customs. Unfortunately, Burton was unable to dissuade Gelele. He returned home despondent, frustrated, and disappointed. This was his last major expedition to West Africa. |
