West African Studies
London: Macmillan, 1901.
Hardcover. Very Good. Second edition, with additional chapters. xxxii, 507 pp + 4 pp ads. Index, frontis portrait, 27 plates from photographs, folding map of Tropical West Africa. Foxing to front matter, small stain on spine, else clean and sound. No dust jacket. Mary Henrietta Kingsley (1862-1900) was an English ethnographer, writer, and explorer whose travels throughout West Africa and resulting work helped shape European perceptions of both African cultures and British colonialism in Africa. A follow-up to her Travels in West Africa (1897), this ambitious book outlined a new plan for the administration of the West African colonies that would give control to European trading interests (rather than bureaucrats) while incorporating African opinion and leaving native cultural, legal, and social organizations intact (DNB). The book also includes much new detail from her extensive studies of tribal customs (fetishism, witchcraft, medicine, religious practice) and natural history.
Item #23050
Price: $85.00