DEMANET (Abbé). - Lot 13

DEMANET (Abbé). A New History of French Africa. Paris: Veuve Duchêne et Lacombe, 1767. — 2 volumes, in-12, 167 x 98: (4 ff.), xxx pp., (1 f.), 266 pp. incorrectly paginated as 142, 3 maps; (4 ff.), 352 pp., (2 ff.). Marbled calfskin, smooth spine with decoration, red edges (contemporary binding). First edition. As a missionary in Africa, Abbé Demanet saw the continent first and foremost as an inexhaustible source of riches: “Africa opens its bosom to us, so that we may draw from it, as from an inexhaustible spring, immense riches.” His work, enriched with astronomical, geographical, and ethnographic observations, provides a detailed account of the trade of the time: iron, gunpowder, weapons, brandy, gum, gold, wood, ivory… and “captives.” Without a second thought, he discusses the slave trade, which he himself engaged in by negotiating for captives at exorbitant prices on the Gambia River. He concludes as follows: “Present-day French Africa can produce annually […] five thousand captives […] who will cost no more than 110 livres each; from which we can see the immense profit to be derived from this branch of trade. ” His work, often cited in debates on slavery in the 18th century, was among the references used by anti-slavery advocates (such as Abbé Grégoire)… but also by defenders of the slave trade, who drew economic arguments from it. The edition is illustrated with three fold-out engraved maps: First Division of French Africa (sic) from Cap Blanc to Senegal. - Second Division of French Africa from Senegal to Cape Verga. - Third Division. A fine copy in a contemporary binding, from the library of the engraver, engineer-geographer, publisher, and map dealer Jean-Claude Dezauche (1745–1829). Some foxing and discoloration. Provenance: Jean-Claude Dezauche, with bookplate.