AFRICA. Autograph manuscript signed by Pierre AYROL, July 22 - Lot 414

Lot n° 414
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400 - 500 EUR
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Result : 396EUR
AFRICA. Autograph manuscript signed by Pierre AYROL, July 22 - Lot 414
AFRICA. Autograph manuscript signed by Pierre AYROL, July 22–September 12, 1935; in-12 notebook (17x10.5 cm) containing 34 printed pages Printed text and 145 handwritten pages, with attached documents, publisher’s black leather binding with gold lettering: *A Record of My Tour Abroad*. Travelogue of a journey through colonial West Africa. Cruise aboard the SS Touareg. The stops along the way, made in the heat and amid fatigue, were: Philippeville, Algiers, Oran, Casablanca, the Canary Islands and Las Palmas, Dakar, Conakry, Tabou, Port-Bouët, Accra, Lomé, Cotonou, and Lagos; the journey ended in Douala. At the beginning of the journal, Pierre Ayrol pasted his photo and signed it. Stamps have been pasted at the top of many pages (Senegal, Nigeria, Togo, Guinea…). Various documents were inserted: a hand-drawn itinerary showing about fifteen stops from Philippeville to Douala, a few photos, 9 drawings (Conakry, Lagos, Port-Bouët…), a business card and an invitation card from the Governor of Conakry, a newspaper clipping (August 19), a river crossing ticket, a Chamber of Commerce bulletin (August 22), and a menu. The traveler recounts daily life aboard the ship, including its mishaps; meals with the captain; visits to ports of call and excursions; life around the ports, fishing, markets, and bustling streets; the diverse populations: Europeans, Arabs, and Jews; the festivals, African women in colorful clothing, the houses, the colors, the African atmosphere, the landscapes with their vegetation, the beauty of the sunsets, the changing weather, the cost of living, the contrasts between wealth and poverty, the brutality of the colonists and the flagrant injustice, ceremonies or festivals followed by singing, local customs, rail and maritime connections, airlines, the mail service, etc.; as well as economic and logistical observations regarding agricultural crops (bananas, wine, coconut palms) or industrial resources (gold mines, timber), precarious conditions, modest wages, speculation, impassable roads, communications, unfinished projects, and poorly maintained construction sites, etc.
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