Voyage à la côte occidentale d'Afrique, fait dans les années 1786 et 1787; contenant la description des moeurs, usages, lois, gouvernement et commerce des états du Congo. Suivi d'un voyage fait au Cap de Bonne Esperance.

Dentu, Paris, 1801

First edition of Grandpré’s account of his 1786–87 trading expedition along the West African coast.

Description: 2 vols., bound in contemp. mottled calf, with board edges in gilt, flat spine lettered and decorated in gilt. Octavo: 20 × 13 cm; pp.: (vol.1): [2]ll., 32, xxviii, 226; (vol.2): [2]ll., 320. With 13 engravings (8 folded plates and 3 folded maps and plans).

Ref.: Gay 3014; Henze ii, 387

Condition: Bindings show very minor abrasions and marks of usage; a discolouration in the form of a thin, curved line on the upper board of vol. 1; short splits at head and foot of joints of vol. 2. Inner joints sound. Pages generally bright and clean, though slightly toned with age. Plates with occasional marginal fraying and some age-toning to the edges.

Notes: The French naval officer Louis Ohier de Grandpré (1761–1846) was a fascinating, albeit highly controversial personality. He travelled to Asia, Africa and Europe during a turbulent period (before, during and after the French Revolution) and had a varied career as a shipowner, merchant, secret agent, officer, engineer and writer. Grandpré also spoke several languages, worked as a translator and draughtsman, and was a passionate archaeologist and geographer. He published over a dozen books and articles. But as the son of Louis Athanase Ohier, one of the largest slave traders in France, he was initially trained as a naval officer on his father’s slave ship. However, the experiences he had on board prompted him to turn against the slave trade.

The account published in 1801 as Voyage à la côte occidentale d’Afrique describes his observations and experiences during a trading mission along the West African coast in 1786–87. Granpré proved to be a keen observer of the customs and traditions of the natives. He describes in detail the nature, products and conditions of trade, in particular the slave trade and the atrocities committed by French slave traders against West Africans over the centuries.