A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome: Volume One (Burtoniana Editions)

This is volume one of an expanded reissue in two volumes of Burton's Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome, long out of print.A facsimile of the first edition of 1864 is provided. The original text in this reissue has not been altered in any way. To complement the text, a great deal of additional material by Burton himself is prepended in both volumes. For example, his confidential report to Earl Russell is reproduced from the manuscript unabridged---the published excerpt omitted a great deal of sensitive material---and forms the best summary of the political and diplomatic events of his official mission. (For the first, unofficial mission, see below.) His `curious' descriptions of the Dahomans for the Anthropological and Ethnological Societies are also reproduced, providing detail that the text only hints at. His testimony in 1865 before the Select Committee on Africa (Western Coast) shows the mastery he had quickly developed of the region. The level of competence displayed by all participants in the hearing is a revelation, and inconceivable in a modern parliament. Francesco Borghero's map, partly based on information from Burton himself, remedies a curious omission, greatly supplemented by Burton's own maps, published here for the first time. Valuable original sketches by Burton himself complement the sparse illustrations in the main text. Read more