Western Africa: Its History, Condition, and Prospects
New York: Harper & Brothers, 1856.
First Edition. Hardcover. Good+. xii, [13]-527 pp, illustrated with engravings, two-page map of Western Africa. Original blind-stamped black cloth, stamped in gilt on spine. Cloth chipped at spine ends and corners, spine lettering faded but legible. Endpapers discolored, else very good internally. Wilson spent 18 years as a missionary in West Africa, traveling extensively and learning two native languages, and, he claims for his book "the merit of being a faithful and unpretending record of African society" (Preface). The work provides a history of exploration and colonization and discusses the social and religious customs. commerce, and governance of Sierra Leone, the Gold Coast, Grain Coast Ashanti, Ivory Coast, Liberia, and Northern and Southern Guinea.
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