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- Title
- Le Hottentot
- Description
- Portrait image of Klaas, a young Hottentot (i.e., Khoikhoi), who accompanied Le Vaillant during parts of his voyage. According to the text, the engraving was done after a sketch by Vaillant. Klass is dressed in the typical Khoikhoi fashion: he wears a fur loin-cloth, a cape made from sheep or badger's skin (with the woolly side inward), and a lamb-skin cap. It appears that he also wears animal innards around his neck and legs, as was customary among the Khoikhoin. A good description of their dress can be found in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an Accurate Description of the Regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid (London: 1670), p. 590-591., Plate in François Le Vaillant's Voyage de Monsieur Le Vaillant dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance: dans les Années 1780, 81, 82, 83, 84 & 85 (A Paris: Chez Leroy, Libraire, rue Saint-Jacques; vis-à-vis celle de la Parcheminerie, no. 15, M.DCC.LXXXX [1790]), vol. 1, p. 212., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1790]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Leva 1790 9861.O v 1 p 212, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2923
- Title
- Andries Africander, a mulatto Hottentot
- Description
- Portrait image of Andries Africander, a mulatto Hottentot (i.e. Khoikhoi), who served as Harris's driver during part of his travels. A pensioned private in the Cape Rifle Corps, Africander is shown here with his rifle. As Harris noted, and as the engraving suggests, he was missing both his right eye and his index finger. When Harris first made Africander's acquaintance, the latter had already made numerous trips into Moselekaste's country. He was also acquainted with the chief, and spoke a bit of English and Sichuana. He proved, however, to be an unfortunate addition to Harris's party. "A coward, a mutineer, and an inveterate liar," Harris wrote, " . . . Andries caused more mischief and trouble to us by his pernicious example and rebellious conduct when beyond the reach of the law, than can be well conceived by those who have never had the misfortunes to be exposed to the machinations of so dangerous a ruffian." (p. 10), Plate in Sir William Harris's The wild sports of Southern Africa: Being a narrative of a hunting expedition from the Cape of Good Hope, through the territories of the Chief Moselekatse, to the Tropic of Capricorn (London: Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden, 1852), p. 8., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1852]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Harris 14048.O p 8, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2912
- Title
- Negre Manding
- Description
- Included in Chapter IX, "Mandings, Barra, Kollar, et Badibou," the engraving shows a Mandingo regent in the costume of his people. The Mandingos are a West African ethnic group; they live in the countries of Gambia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, and Senegal., Illustration in René Geoffroy de Villeneuve's L'Afrique, ou Histoire, moeurs, usages et coutumes des africains: Le Sénégal (Paris: Nepveu, libraire, passage des Panoramas, no. 26, 1814), vol. 3 p. 170., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1814]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri R.G.V. 65954.D v 3 p 170, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2930
- Title
- A Zoolu warrior & his daughter
- Description
- Portrait image of a Zoolu (i.e, Zulu) warrior and his daughter. Seated on a rock, the warrior holds his sword and three spears. His daughter stands at his side, resting her hand on his shoulder. She wears a necklace and a wrap around her hips., Frontispiece for volume one of Nathaniel Isaacs's Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa: Descriptive of the Zoolu Manners, Customs, etc. etc.: With a Sketch of Natal (London: Edward Churton, 26, Holles Street, 1836)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- Bagg, William, lithographer
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Isaac 6281.D vol 1 frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2916
- Title
- Odumata's sleeping room ; Inner square of Apookoos house
- Description
- Plates are included in Chapter VI, "Architecture, Arts, and Manufactures." Top plate shows the sleeping room of Odumata, an old Ashanti aristocrat. Bowdich described the room as being "one side of an oblong area in a very retired angle of his house, about 25 feet by 8." As he continued,"The cloth suspended to the left of the door on the top of the steps, hides the bloody stools which are in the recess. The small gallery in front of the upper room is only wide enough for one person to walk in. The recess and small room below accommodate confidential slaves. The bed room was very small, about 8 feet square, but being hung round with a variety of gold and silver ornaments, had a very rich appearance. The bed is generally about 5 feet high, and composed entirely of large silk-cotton pillows piled one above another. The King of Gaman, we were assured, had steps of solid gold to ascend to his bed. A man wearing a crier's cap, is playing the sanko." (p. 307) As the title suggests, the bottom plate shows the inner square of Apokoo's house. (Apokoo was the keeper of the Ashanti royal treasury.) Describing the image, Bowdich wrote, "No. 6, is a perspective view of the entrance area to Apokoo's house; the fourth side is an open fronted building like those on the right and left for attendants to wait in, and for the hearing of palavers. The opposite closed side is a bed room. The figure is playing the bentwa." (p. 307), Two plates in T. Edward Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee: with a statistical account of that kingdom, and geographical notices of other parts of the interior of Africa (London: J. Murray, Albemarle-Street: printed by W. Pulmer and Co., Cleveland-Row, St. James's, 1819), p. 306., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- Dec. 2, 1818
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Afri Bowd 12983.Q p 306, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2895
- Title
- Part of a piazza in the palace [No. 7] ; Part of a piazza in the palace [No. 8]
- Description
- Plates included in Chapter VI, "Architecture, Arts, and Manufactures." As the title suggests, the top image shows part of a piazza in the palace of the King of Gaman. (The Gaman peoples live in modern Ghana.) "No. 7," Bowdich explained, "is a part of a piazza, which lines the interior of the wall secluding the palace from the street. The piazza is 200 yards long and inhabited by captains and other attendants on the King; above is a small gallery. Piles of skulls, and drums ornamented with them, are frequent in this piazza. The figure is a common soldier of the Ashantee, his belt ornamented with red shells, and stuck full of knives." The bottom image is another piazza view. "No. 8, is the upper end of the piazza, which is more ornamented, and appropriated to the superior captains, who have each a suite of rooms, marked by the small doors under the piazza. A woman is dancing whilst a man plays the flute and rattle.", Two plates in T. Edward Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee: with a Statistical Account of that Kingdom, and Geographical Notices of Other Parts of the Interior of Africa (London: J. Murray, Albemarle-Street: printed by W. Pulmer and Co., Cleveland-Row, St. James's, 1819), p. 308., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- Dec. 2, 1818
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Afri Bowd 12983.Q p 308, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2896
- Title
- Part of Adoom street [No. 9]
- Description
- As the title suggests, the plate shows part of Adoom-street in Gaman (now part of Ghana). In the accompanying text, Bowdich wrote, "No. 9, is a view of part of Adoom-street: each open front denotes the residence of a captain, being used for talking palavers, receiving strangers, observing or superintending customs, and evening recreation The dwelling is entered by the small door at the side, which generally leads through a narrow passage or court to a large area like No. 6, and thence by various intricate ways to smaller and more retired areas like No 4. and No. 5. A fetish woman has just quitted the centre house; she has on a white cloth, and various pieces of rich silk are hanging round her girdle, her breasts are confined with a scarf, a fillet encircles her head, in each hand she waves a horse's tail, and she continues yelling and swinging round and round until she is quite stupified. A weaver and loom are on her right, and a market woman under her shed on the left.", Fold-out plate in T. Edward Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee: with a Statistical Account of that Kingdom, and Geographical Notices of Other Parts of the Interior of Africa (London: J. Murray, Albemarle-Street: printed by W. Pulmer and Co., Cleveland-Row, St. James's, 1819), p. 308., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- Dec. 2, 1818
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Afri Bowd 12983.Q p 308, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A3141
- Title
- Hottentote
- Description
- Image of a young Hottentot (i.e., Khoikhoi) woman whom Le Vaillant met during his travels. The woman wears typical Khoikhoi dress: namely, a cape made from sheep or badger's skin. She does not, however, wear the customary fur loin-cloth -- an oversight allowing the illustrator to show her genitalia. Like many Khoikhoi women (including Saarti Baartman, the so-called "Hottentot Venus," who was crudely "exhibited" to European audiences in the early nineteenth century), the woman shown here has a "vagina dentata," which Le Vaillant described as a "natural apron." (See the English translation of Le Vaillant, Travels into the Interior Parts of Africa [London: Printed for G.G. and J. Robinson, Paternoster-Row, 1796], vol. 2, p. 353), Plate in François Le Vaillant's Voyage de Monsieur Le Vaillant dans l'intérieur de l'Afrique par le Cap de Bonne-Espérance: dans les Années 1780, 81, 82, 83, 84 & 85 (A Paris: Chez Leroy, Libraire, rue Saint-Jacques; vis-à-vis celle de la Parcheminerie, no. 15, M.DCC.LXXXX [1790]), vol. 2, p. 346., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1790]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Leva 1790 9861.O v 2 p 346, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2924
- Title
- Representation of the court of select audience -- Costume, and the ceremony of swearing fidelity to the British government
- Description
- Egraving depicts an event described in Chapter III, "Commencement of Negotiations," (p. 89-91). As the British envoy to Ashantee [i.e., Ashanti], Depuis participated in a ceremony in which the King of Ashantee, his principal officers, and chiefs took an "oath of friendship and alliance" to the British government. The ceremony took place in the royal palace, and Depuis is seated at the left. Standing next to him with a raised scimiter, the Ashantee King delivers "an energizing speech." (p. 89), Frontispiece for Joseph Dupuis's Journal of a Residence in Ashantee (London: Printed for Henry Colburn, New Burlington Street: Shackell and Arrowsmith, Johnson's-Court, Fleet-Street, 1824)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- Williams, C., engraver
- Date
- [1824]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Dupui 1894.Q frontispiece, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2902
- Title
- A Zoolu prophetess
- Description
- Portrait image of a Zoolu (i.e, Zulu) prophetess whom Isaacs met during his travels. He described her as follows, "Her person . . . did not less attract my attention than the hostile attitudes and habiliments of her guards. Her head was partly shaved, as is the custom of the natives. Her hair was thick, and seemed besmeared with fat and charcoal.One eyelid was painted red, the other black; and her nose was rendered more ornamental than nature had designed it, by being also blackened by the same preparation." As he also noted, she carried a "stick or wand, with a black cow's tail tied to the end, which she flourished about with infinite solemnity." (p. 166-167). In the lithograph, the prophetess wears an ornate head-piece and ceremonial dress; she holds a small nosegay to her breast., Plate in Nathaniel Isaacs's Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa: Descriptive of the Zoolu Manners, Customs, etc. etc.: With a Sketch of Natal (London: Edward Churton, 26, Holles Street, 1836)., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- Bagg, William, lithographer
- Date
- [1836]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Isaac 6281.D vol 2 p 166, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2917
- Title
- A mulatto woman of the Gold Coast
- Description
- Portrait of a mulatto woman walking with a parasol on the coast. Hutton's general description of "superior black women and mulattoes" on the Gold Coast also applies to this subject. As he wrote, "They wear a cloth either of silk or cotton, which they fasten round their waist with a handkerchief, from which is suspended a large bunch of silver keys, about thirty-two in number. Under their cloth they wear a girdle that goest several times round their loins, and forms into a large pad behind, just at the small of their backs, which is called a cankey, and on which they carry their children. This cankey, which has a very unseemly appearance, possesses the advantage of keeping the cloth loose, and thus prevents their shape from being exposed. The young girls in general are proud of showing their bosoms, but the mulatto women conceal theirs by wearing a linen shirt." (p. 93-94), Plate in William Hutton's A Voyage to Africa: Including a Narrative of an Embassy to One of the Interior Kingdoms, in the year 1820 . . . (London: Printed for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row, 1821), p. 92., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- Clark, J., 1789-1830, engraver
- Date
- 1821
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Hutton 5536.O p 92, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2915
- Title
- Fan blacksmiths
- Description
- From 1855-59, Paul B. Du Chaillu (Paul Belloni), a French-American explorer, led an expedition through Gabon, which was supported by the Philadelphia Academy of Natural Scienes. Du Chaillu's observations were published in Explorations & Adventures in Equatorial Africa (1861). This engraving is set in a village inhabited by the Fan peoples, who settled in the area around the Gabon River. It shows two Fan blacksmith working over a small fire. "As blacksmiths," Du Chaillu wrote, "they very far surpass all the tribes of this region who have not come in contact with whites. Their war-like habits have made iron a most necessary article to them; and though their tools are very simple, their patience is great, and, as the reader will perceive from the pictures of their arms, they produce some very neat workmanship." (p. 91) Describing the scene shown in the engraving, Du Chaillu continued, "The forge is set up anywhere where a fire can be built. They have invented a singular bellows, composed of two short, hollowed cylinders of wood, surmounted by skins accurately fitted on, and having an appropriate valve and a wooden handle. The bellows-man sits down, and moves these coverings up and down with great rapidity, and the air is led through small wooden pipes into an iron joint which emerges in the fire. The anvil is a solid piece of iron of the shape seen in the illustration. The sharp end is stuck into the ground, and the blacksmith sits alongside of his anvil and beats iron with a singular hammer, which is simply a piece of iron weighing three to six pounds, and in shape of a truncated cone. It has no handle, but is held by the smaller end, and, of course, the blows require much more strength." (p. 91-92), Illustration in Paul B. Du Chaillu's Explorations & adventures in equatorial Africa: With accounts of the manners and customs of the people, and the chace of the gorilla, crocodile, leopard, elephant, hippopotamus, and other animals (London: John Murray, Albemarle Street, 1861), p. 91., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1861]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Du Chail 15232.O p 91, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2901
- Title
- The first day of the yam custom
- Description
- Depicts the annual yam festival, a large public ceremony held at the beginning of the yam harvest in September. It includes a vast and diverse array of figures: the King, his warriors, dancers, musicians, officers of the foreign mission, Moors, and various onlookers. Toward the center of the scene, the King sits underneath the state umbrella, which is bright red, topped by a golden elephant, and flanked by the flags of Great Britain, Holland, and Denmark. The children of the nobility sit at the King's feet, waving elephant tails. A procession of dancers approaches the King; those at the front beat skulls decorated with thyme. Farther to the left, a bloody prisoner is being led by two of the King's messengers. In the background, Odumata, an aged aristocrat, is being carried in the state hammock. At the extreme left, a group of captains dance in a circle, firing their guns. At the far right, a group of Moors watch the festivities. Closer to the center, officers of the mission can be seen. Their linguists sit in front of them; their soldiers and servants stand behind them., Fold-out plate in T. Edward Bowdich's Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee: with a Statistical Account of that Kingdom, and Geographical Notices of Other Parts of the Interior of Africa (London: J. Murray, Albemarle-Street: printed by W. Pulmer and Co., Cleveland-Row, St. James's, 1819), p. 274., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Creator
- R. Havell & Son, engraver
- Date
- Dec. 2, 1818
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Afri Bowd 12983.Q p 274, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2894
- Title
- The kraals and hutts of the Hottentots ; The Hottentot skinner
- Description
- Top engraving accompanies Chapter XVIII, "Of the Kraals, or Villages, of the Hottentots; their Huts and Hut-Furniture." It shows a Khoikhoin kraal, or village, in the background. As Kolb wrote, "I have seen Hundreds of Kraals, and never saw one that consisted of less than Twenty Huts. There are many so large that the Huts are not easily counted: And it is, in the Eye of a Hottentot, a very contemptible Kraal that contains not more than a Hundred Souls. The Generality of the Kraals contain each from Three Hundred to Four Hundred Souls. Some contain about Five Hundred. On the Area of a Kraal they can and do sometimes lodge several Thousands of Small Cattle." (p. 218) The foreground of the engraving features two oval-shaped Khoikhoin huts, one only partially built. According to Kolb, these huts usually ranged from ten to fourteen feet in diameter. They were built with flexible wooden sticks, which were then covered with animal skins. As Kolb explained, the top of the hut was rarely "so high that a man could stand under it erect." (p. 221) Bottom engraving shows a Khoikhoin skinner, and accompanies Chapter XIX, "Of Certain Handy-Crafts the Hottentots exercise among themselves." Referring to the engraving, Kolb wrote: "I shall now let the Reader into the Art and Mystery of a Hottentot Skinner. He takes a Sheep Skin, fresh and reeking from the Back of the Sheep, and rubs into it as much Fat as he can. At this Work he takes Abundance of Pains; and the Effect is, that the Skin is thereby render'd tough and smooth, and the Wool or Hair is secur'd from Falling off. This is All he does if he dresses a Sheep-Skin for an European: And he does the same, and no more, if he dresses the Skin of a Wild Beast for him. And, whatever the Reader may think of the Matter, a Skin dress'd in this Manner by a Hottentot is a very curious Piece of Work." (p. 232), Page from Peter Kolb's The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope (London: Printed for W. Innys and R. Manby, at the west end of St. Paul's, MDCCXXXVIII [1738]), vol. 1, p. 218., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1738]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Kolb 532.O v 1 p 218, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2919
- Title
- Family of Negro slaves from Loango
- Description
- Engraving was done after one of John Gabriel Stedman's own drawings, which record his impressions of Surinam. According to the accompanying text, it shows "a negro family in that state of tranquil happiness, which they always enjoy under a humane and indulgent master." Stedman described the illustration as follows: "The figures in the plate are supposed to be of the Loango nation, by the marks on the man's body, while on his breast may be seen J.G.S. in a cypher, by which his owner may ascertain his property. He carries a basket with small fish, and a net upon his head, with a large fish in his hand, caught by himself in the river. His wife, who is pregnant, is employed in carrying different kinds of fruit, spinning a thread of cotton upon her distaff, and comfortably smoking her pipe of tobacco. Besides all this, she has a boy upon her back, and another playing by her side." (vol. 2, p. 280), Plate LXVIII in John Gabriel Stedman's Narrative, of a five year's expedition, against the revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South America; from the year 1772 to 1777 (London: Printed for J. Johnson, St. Paul's Church Yard, & J. Edwards, Pall Mall, 1796), vol. 2, p. 280., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Creator
- Blake, William, 1757-1827, engraver
- Date
- [between 1791 and 1796]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1796 Sted 755.Q v 2 p 280, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2701
- Title
- The Hottentots butcher ; The Hottentot mat-maker, potter & c
- Description
- Engravings accompany Chapter XIX, "Of certain Handy-Crafts the Hottentots exercise among themselves." In the foreground of the top image, two pairs of Hottentot [i.e. Khoikhoin] men work separately to butcher two oxen. In the left background, two other men butcher a sheep. A fourth pair boils water in cauldrons; and two others (right) hold the entrails of another animal. The bottom image shows several Hottentot mat-makers and a potter, all of whom appear to be women. (As Kolb wrote, the mat-makers "are, for the most Part, women: And they are very expert in their Business." [p. 236]) In the engraving, the mat-makers are involved in various stages of production: one background figure cuts the reeds out of which the mats will be woven; another woman carries the reeds, and yet another (slightly left of center) lays them on the ground to dry. The woman sitting on the partially finished mat is most likely weaving. In the foreground, a mat-maker strips reeds, while a potter makes a bowl. Several small pots are shown on the ground., Page from Peter Kolb's The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope (London: Printed for W. Innys and R. Manby, at the west end of St. Paul's, MDCCXXXVIII [1738]), vol. 1, p. 226., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1738]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Kolb 532.O v 1 p 226, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2920
- Title
- [Anna Xinga and her commanders]
- Description
- Engraving features Anna Xinga or Nzinga (second from left), the daughter and rightful successor of the King of Congo. After the Portuguese prevented her ascension to the throne, she fled the kingdom. As Ogilby explained, "She and her People (for the most part) lead an unsettled life, roving up and down from place to place, like the Jages: Before any enterprize undertaken, though of meanest concern, they ask councel of the Devil; to which end they have an Idol, to whom they sacrifice a living Person, of the wisest and comliest they can pick out." Ogilby then continued, "The Queen against the time of this Sacrifice, Clothes her self in mans appareal, (nor indeed does she at any time go otherwise habited) hanging about her the Skins of beasts, before and behind, with a Sword about her Neck, an Ax at her Girdle, and a Bowe and Arrows in her Hand, leaping according to their Custom, now here, then there, as nimbly, as the most active among her Attendants; all the while striking her Engema, that is, two Iron Bells, which serve her in stead of Drums. When she thinks she has made a show long enough, in a Masculine manner, and thereby hath weary'd her self; then she takes a broad Feather and sticks it through the holes of her boar'd Nose, for a sign of War. She her self in this rage, begins with the first of those appointed to be sacrificed; and cutting off his head, drinks a great draught of his blood. Then follow the Stoutest Commanders, as do as she hath done; and this with a great hurly-burly, tumult, and playing upon Instruments about their Idol. Among all her most pretious things, she bestows no such care on any, as the Bones of one of her Brothers, who Raign'd before her, which lie together in a costly Silver Chest, long before gotten of the Portuguese." (p. 564), Illustration in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an accurate description of the regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid: the Land of Negroes, Guinee, and Aethiopia, and Abyssines, with all the adjacent islands, either in the Mediterranean, Atlantick, Southern, or Oriental Sea, belonging thereunto (London: Printed by Tho. Johnson, for the author, and are to be had at his house in White Fryers, M.DC.LXX [1670]), p. 565., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1670]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Wing O163 14.F p 565, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2961
- Title
- Dracht en wapening der Hottentots = The Hottentots clothing and their dress
- Description
- Set in a lush landscape near the Cape of Good Hope, the illustration features a group of Khoikoin, also known (pejoratively) as the Hottentots. Engraving accompanies a passage in which Ogilby offers a detailed description of their clothing and weapons. "Their Clothing is very sordid, and vile, most of the Men wearing onely a Sheeps Pelt, or Badgers Skin, in manner of a Mantle about their Shoulders, with the hairy side commonly within, and ty'd under their Chin. Such a Mantle consists of three Pieces, neatly sew'd together with Sinews of Beasts in stead of Threed. When they go abroad, or upon a Journey, they throw another Sheeps-skin, with the Wool on the out-side, over the undermost. Upon their Heads they wear a Cap of Lamb-skin, with the Woolly side inward, and a Button on the top. Their shoes are made of a Rhincerot's Skin, and consists of a whole flat Piece, before and behind of a like heighth, with a Cross of two Leather-bands fasten'd to their Feet. Before their Privacies hangs a little piece of a wild Wood-Cat, or ring-streaked Tyger, or Jack-alls Skin, ty'd behind with two Thongs. The Habit of the Women differs little from the former, being a Sheep-skin Mantle on the upper part of their Bodies, with the Wool inwards; but somewhat longer than the Men; also another Skin hanging behind to cover their back-parts, and a square Piece before their Privacies. On their Heads they wear a high Cap of a Sheeps, or Badgers Skin, bound to their Heads with a broad Fillet: In all the rest following the Mens Garb. . . . Many of them wear as an Ornament, the Guts of Beasts, fresh and stinking, drawn two or three times one through another, about their Necks, and the like about their Legs . . . . When they go abroad they have usually an Ostrich Feather, or a Staff, with a wild Cats Tail ty'd to it, in one Hand, in stead of a Handkerchief to wipe their Eyes and Noses, and beat away the Dust, Sand, and Flies, and in the other Hand a sleight Javelin. The Women never go abroad without a Leather Sack at their backs, having at each end a Tuft or Taffel, fill'd with one trifle or another. Their Weapons, or Arms, are Bowes and Arrows, and small Darts, three, four, or five Foot long, having at one end a broad sharp Iron fixed, which they handle and throw very dexterously." (p. 590-91), Double-page plate in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an Accurate Description of the Regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid: the Land of Negroes, Guinee, and Aethiopia, and Abyssines, with all the Adjacent Islands, either in the Mediterranean, Atlantick, Southern, or Oriental Sea, Belonging Thereunto (London: Printed by Tho. Johnson, for the author, and are to be had at his house in White Fryers, M.DC.LXX [1670]), p. 590., A seemingly identical copy of this engraving appeared in Pieter van der Aa's La Galerie agreable du monde (Leyden: 1729?). The Leyden version was signed by van der Aa., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1670]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *Wing O163 14.F p 590, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2962
- Title
- African slave trade
- Description
- Illustration is set on the eastern coast of Africa, most likely in Sierra Leone. In the center, a slave-trader inspects a slave for purchase. To the left of the pair, another European slave-trader (presumably the seller) sits on a crate, smoking a cigar as he observes the inspection process. His book, the quill, and the ink-well suggest that he is prepared to record the day's transactions. To the right, another European trader converses with three African merchants, possibly members of the Mandigo tribe. The subject of their discussion may be the sale of goods in the Africans' trunk. To the far right, an overseer with a raised whip marches behind a row of bound slaves who are headed toward a ship., Plate in William Blake's The History of Slavery and the Slave Trade, Ancient and Modern (Columbus, Ohio: Published and sold exclusively by subscription J. & H. Miller, 1858), p. 112., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Images of the Slave Trade.
- Creator
- Felch-Riches, engraver
- Date
- [1858]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1858 Blake 70419.O p 112, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2802
- Title
- A Carib of Morne Ronde, St. Vincent
- Description
- Portrait image of Mary and her child, two Caribs whom Wentworth met in Morne Ronde on St. Vincent. According to Wentworth, Mary's features "were more of the African character, than of the aboriginal Indians, who were remarkable for the symmetry of their forms, and long straight glossy hair." "Her proportions, too," he wrote, "were singularly out of proportion, as if -- excepting her head and feet, she had been formed of the half limbs of a muscular giantess." (p. 337), Plate in Trelawney Wentworth's West India Sketch Book (London: Printed for Whittaker & Co., Ave Maria Lane, 1834), vol. II, p. 336., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Scenes from Slave Life.
- Date
- December 1833
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1834 Wentw 5894.D vol 2 p 336, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2740
- Title
- Dracht en wapening der Hottentots = Les armes et habits des Hottentots, aupres le Cap de Bonne Esperance
- Description
- Set in a lush landscape near the Cape of Good Hope, the illustration features a group of Khoikoin, also known (somewhat pejoratively) as the Hottentots. As the title suggests, the engraving shows their weapons and manner of dress. Both the men and the women wear loin-cloths and shawls bordered with fur. A few wear bands around their lower legs. Some of the Khoikoin carry spears; the central figure is also shown with a bow and a quiver., Double-page plate in Pieter van der Aa's La galerie agreable du monde, où l'on voit et un grand nombre de cartes tres-exactes et de belles tailles-douces, les principaux empires, roiaumes, republiques, provinces, villes, bourgs et forteresses . . . (Le tout mis en ordre & executé à Leide, par Pierre vander Aa [1729?]), n.p., In the absence of pagination, 57 has been written next to the plate., Seemingly, van der Aa copied from an unsigned engraving published in John Ogilby's Africa: Being an Accurate Description of the Regions of Aegypt, Barbary, Lybia, and Billedulgerid (London: 1670) under the title "Dracht en Wapening der Hottentots / The Hottentots Clothing and Their Arms.", Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1729?]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare *U Gen Gal v 60-62 1729.F n.p. (57), https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2951
- Title
- Chatoyer the Chief of the Black Charaibes in St. Vincent with his five wives
- Description
- Engraving illustrates an episode described in Chapter 13 of Edward's volume, "A Tour through the Several Islands of Barbadoes, St. Vincent, Antigua, Tobago, and Grenada, in the Years 1791, and 1792." The chapter was written by Sir William Young, the owner of the painting upon which this engraving is based. Set on the island of St. Vincent, the engraving shows Chatoyer, the chief of the black Charaibes, and his five wives., Folded plate in Bryan Edward's The History, Civil and Commercial, of the British Colonies in the West Indies, in three volumes (London: Printed for John Stockdale, Piccadilly, 1801), vol. 3, p. 262., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Resistance.
- Creator
- Grignion, Charles, 1717-1810, engraver
- Date
- [March 18, 1796]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare Am 1801 Edwar 18058.O v 3 p 262, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2706
- Title
- After what manner the Hottentots secure their cattle in the night ; The carriage - oxen of the Hottentots
- Description
- Included in Chapter XV, "Of the Hottentot Management with Regard to their Cattle," the plates describe aspects of animal husbandry, as practiced by the Hottentot [i.e. Khoikoin] peoples. As the title suggests, the top engraving shows the manner in which the Khoikoin secured cattle during the night. The image is described in section XIV, where Kolb wrote, "I shall now shew after what Manner the Hottentots secure their cattle in the Night. The Cots of a Kraal [defined variously as a hut, an entire village, an enclosure, or a corral], as I have said already, are rang'd in a Circle, the Area of which is quite open. There is but one Entrance into a Kraal and that a narrow one. Between Five and Six in the Evening, as I have said too, the Hottentots generally drive their Cattle from Pasture. . . . On the Area of the Kraal they lodge the Calves and all the small Cattle. And round the Kraal, on the Outside, they range the great Cattle, their Heads close up to the Cots. Their Great Cattle, so rang'd, they tie, Two and Two together, by the Feet, to prevent their Struggling." (p. 176) The bottom engraving shows the oxen of the Khoikoin, of which Kolb said the followiing, "The Hottentots have likewise great Numbers of Oxen for Carriage. These too are very strong and stately Creatures, chosen out of the Herds at about the Age of Two Years, by old Men, well skill'd in Cattle. When they have destin'd an Ox to carry Burthens, they take and throw him on his Back on the Ground; and fastening his Head and Feet, as they do those of a Bull when they geld him, they make a Hole with a sharp Knife through his upper Lip, between his Nostrils. Into this Hole they put a stick, about half an Inch thick, and a Foot and a Half long, with a Hook at Top to prevent its falling through. By this hook'd Stick they break him to Obedience and Good Behaviour: For if he refuses to be govern'd, or to carry the Burthens they lay upon him, they fix his Nose by this hook'd Stick to the Ground; and there hold it till he comes to a better Temper." (p. 180-81), Page from Peter Kolb's The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope (London: Printed for W. Innys and R. Manby, at the west end of St. Paul's, MDCCXXXVIII [1738]), vol. 1, p. 174., Fels Afro-Americana Image Project, Africa: Images, Maps, and Geography.
- Date
- [1738]
- Location
- Library Company of Philadelphia | Books & Other Texts | Rare U Afri Kolb 532.O v 1 p 174, https://digital.librarycompany.org/islandora/object/Islandora%3A2918