Narrative, of a five years' expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South America; from the year 1772, to 1777: elucidating the History of that Country, and describing its Productions, Viz. Quadrupedes, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Trees, Shrubs, Fruits, & Roots; with an account of the Indians of Guiana, & negroes of Guinea. By Capt.n J. G. Stedman, illustrated with 80 elegant Engravings, from drawings made by the Author. Vol. I [-II] Second edition corrected

Stedman, John Gabriel; illust. William Blake et al.

Edité par Luke Hansard for J. Johnson & Th. Payne, London, 1806

A propos de cet article

Second edition corrected. Two volumes. London: Luke Hansard for J. Johnson & Th. Payne, 1806.

Quarto (10" x 8 1/8", 255mm x 205mm). [Full collation available.] With 81 engraved plates in toto by Blake, Bartolozzi, Barlow et al., of which 4 are folding.

Bound in contemporary half calf over marbled boards (vol. I re-backed, with the original back-strips laid down). On the spine, five panels. Author and title gilt to the second panel, number gilt to the fourth. All edges of the text-block speckled brown.

Vol. I re-backed, with the original back-strips laid down (end-papers renewed); vol. II strengthened at the head and tail (end-papers renewed). The hinges of vol. II splitting, with some peeling of the calf and craquelure along the spine. Tanned, with passages of foxing and offsetting at the plates. Tanning to the lower fore-corner of vol. II 3A1-3B1 including two plates. A graphite marginalium to p. 222 of vol. I, and a graphite circle to the title-page of vol. II.

John Gabriel Stedman (1744-1797) was born to a Scotsman in the Austrian Netherlands, and followed his father into military service in the Dutch States Army. In 1772 he was dispatched to Surinam (Suriname in Dutch; formerly Dutch Guiana) immediately north of Brazil in the face of a long-simmering conflict between the Dutch colonists and "maroons" (from the Spanish "cimmarón," wild), self-liberated enslaved Africans who built communities throughout the Caribbean. Stedman served several tours 1773-1777 and kept a journal that provided the basis for the Narrative, first published 1796, as well as sketchbooks translated into engraving by William Blake, Francesco Bartolozzi, John Barlow and others (under the auspices of the radical liberal publisher Joseph Johnson).

Stedman's interest is broad, including history and natural history, and the Narrative is one of the early Anglophone accounts of a place long celebrated for its biodiversity, stretching back to Maria Sibylla Merian, who published her dissertation on the metamorphosis of Surinamese insects based on a research expedition 1699-1701. Although the text shows Stedman defending the enslavement of Africans, his frank accounts of their brutal treatment provided the basis for the illustrations and the use of the book by abolitionists keen to see slavery stopped. The illustrations by Blake were long used to highlight the urgent need for the abolition of slavery.

Abbey, Travel 719; Bentley, Blake Books 499; Sabin 91075.

N° de réf. du vendeur JLR0881

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Narrative, of a five years' expedition, against the Revolted Negroes of Surinam, in Guiana, on the wild coast of South America; from the year 1772, to 1777: elucidating the History of that Country, and describing its Productions, Viz. Quadrupedes, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, Trees, Shrubs, Fruits, & Roots; with an account of the Indians of Guiana, & negroes of Guinea. By Capt.n J. G. Stedman, illustrated with 80 elegant Engravings, from drawings made by the Author. Vol. I [-II] Second edition ...
• Éditeur: Luke Hansard for J. Johnson & Th. Payne, London
• Date de parution: 1806
• Reliure: Hardcover
• Édition: Second.
• État de l'article: Good
• Catalogues du vendeur:
  • Maps & Atlases
  • Americana
  • Africana