Bibliography of Published Primary Sources in African History
(English Language)
Map from Leo Africanus, A Geographical Historie, trans. John Pory, London, 1600.
For a full list with brief annotation of published primary sources in English and other European languages, see J.D. Fage, ed., A Guide to Original Sources For Precolonial Western Africa Published in European Languages, (rev. ed., African Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1994).
[anon.]. Considerations on the Present Peace as Far as it is
Relative to the Colonies and the African Trade. London,
1753.
[anon.]. The Golden Coast, or a Description of Guinney. . .
Together with a Relation of Such Persons as Got Wonderful
Estates by Their Trade Thither. London, 1665.
[anon.]. A Little Forraine Newes Better Than a Great
Deale of Domestic Spurious False Newes Published Daily without
Fears or Wit, To the Shame of the Nation and Beyond the Liberty
of Paris Pasquils. London, 1642.
Adams, Capt. John Remarks on the Country Extending from Cape Palmas to the River Congo. . .. London, 1823. (facs. ed. 1966).
Adanson, Michel. Voyage to Senegal, the Isle of Goree and the River Gambia. . .Translated from the French with Notes by an English Gentleman. . .. London, 1759.
[The African Association]. Proceedings of the Association for
Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of
Africa. London, 1790-1810. (facs. ed. 1967).
Agaja, King of Dahomey. Letter to King George III. . . . in The Parliamentary History of England. . ., vol. XXVIII, London, 1816, 82-91.
Arnett, E.J. and H.R. Palmer, trans. and eds. The Rise of the
Sokoto Fulani, Being a Paraphrase and in Some Parts a Translation
of Infaku'l Maisuri. Kano, n.d. [1922].
Ashton, T.S., ed. Letters of a West African
Trader. [Edward Grace] London, 1950.
Astley, Thomas. A New General Collection of Voyages & Travels.
4 vols., London, 1745-47.
Atkins, John. A Voyage to Guinea, Brasil and the West-Indies in H.M.
Ships Swallow and Weymouth. London, 1735. 2nd ed. 1737.
__________. The Navy-Surgeon, or a Practical System of Surgery. . .. London, 1734.
Aubrey, T., M.D. The Sea-Surgeon, or the Guinea Man's Vade Mecum. . .. London, 1729.
Austin, Allan D. African Muslims in Antebellum
America: A Sourcebook. New York and London, 1984.
Barbot, Jean. (see Hair, P.E.H., Jones, and Law,
eds.)
Barbour, Bernard, and Michelle Jacobs, eds. "The MicRaj: A Legal
Treatise on Slavery by Ahmad Baba," in John Randolph Willis,
ed., Slaves and Slavery in Muslim Africa, vol. 1, London, 1985.
Barker, Robert. The Unfortunate Shipwright, or Cruel Captain. . .
a Narrative of Robert Barker, late Carpenter Aboard the
Thetis. . .in a Voyage to the Coast of Guinea and Antigua.
London, n.d. (1760? and later eds.).
__________. The Genuine Life of Robert Barker, Dictated by Himself
while in a State of Total Blindness. . .. London, 1809.
Beaver, Capt. Philip. African Memoranda Relative
to an Attempt to Establish a British Settlement on the
Island of Bolama. . . in the Year 1792, with a Brief Notice
of the Neighbouring Tribes. . .. London, 1805.
Beazley, C.R. and E. Prestage, eds. The Chronicle of the
Discovery and Conquest of Guinea. 2 vols., Hakluyt
Society, 95 and 100. London, 1896-99.
Benezet, Anthony. A Short Account of that Part of Africa Inhabited
by the Negroes. . . Extracted from Divers Authors. Philadelphia,
1762. (also London, 1763, 1768.).
__________. Some Historical Account of Guinea. . .also a Republication
of the Sentiments of Several Authors. . . on this Interesting Subject. .
.. Philadelphia, 1771. (also London, 1772 and subseq. eds.).
Bilali, Salih. (see Hodgson, W.B.,
Curtin, Philip, and
Austin, Allan).
Blake, J.W. Europeans in West Africa. Hakluyt Society,
2nd ser., 86. London, 1942.
Bosman, Willem. A New and Accurate Description of the Coast
of Guinea. . .. London, 1705. (subseq. eds., 1721, 1754;
facs. eds., 1907, 1967.)
B(urton), R (Robert or Richard). A View of the English Acquisitions
in Guinea and the East Indies with an Account of the Inhabitants. . ..
London, 1686.
Charant, Antoine. A Letter in Answer to. . . Questions Concerning the
Religion, Manners, and Customs of the Countrys of Muley Arxid,
King of Tafiletta. Also Their Trading to Tombotim for Gold. . .
by Mons. A. ****. London, 1671.
Childers, Col. Spencer. A Mariner of England. . .
The Career of William Richardson from Cabin Boy. . . to Warrant Officer. . .
as Told by Himself. London, 1908.
Churchill, Awnsham and John. A Collection of Voyages and
Travels. 4 vols., London, 1704. (repr. 1732 with 2 additional volumes).
Clarkson, Thomas. Essay on the Impolicy of the African Slave Trade.
London, 1788.
__________. Essay on the Efficiency of Regulation or Abolition. . ..
London, 1789.
__________. History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the
Abolition of the African Slave Trade. 2 vols., London, 1808.
__________. Letters on the Slave-Trade and the State of the Natives in
those Parts of Africa which are Contiguous to Fort St. Louis and Goree. . .
. London, 1791.
Cotton, Capt. R.N. and John Roberts. Extracts from an Account of the State
of the British Forts on the Gold Coast of Africa, Taken by Capt. Cotton of
H.M. ship Pallas in. . . 1777, to which are Added Observations
by John Roberts. London, 1778.
Crone, G.R., ed., The Voyages of Cadamosto and Other
Documents. . .. Hakluyt Society, 2nd ser., 80. London, 1937.
Crooks, John Joseph. Records Relating to the Gold Coast Settlements
from 1750 to 1874. Dublin, 1923. (facs. ed., London, 1973).
Crow, Capt. Hugh. Memoirs of the Late captain Hugh Crow of
Liverpool, Comprising a Narrative of his Life Together with
Descriptive Sketches of the Western Coast of Africa, Particularly
of Bonny. . .. London and Liverpool, 1830. (facs. ed. 1970).
Cugoano, Ottobah. Thoughts and Sentiments on the Evil and Wicked
Traffic of the Slavery and Commerce of the Human Species. London,
1787. (facs. ed. 1969).
Curtin, Philip. Africa Remembered: Narratives by
West Africans from the Era of the Slave Trade. 1967.
Dalzell, Archibald. The History of Dahomy, an Inland Kingdom of
Africa, Compiled from Authentic Memoirs. London, 1793.
Dantzig, Albert Van. The Dutch and the Guinea Coast, 1674-1742:
A Collection of Documents from the General State Archive at the Hague. Accra, 1978.
Dappert, Olfert. (see Ogilby, John).
Davenant, Charles. Reflections upon the Constitution and Management of the Trade to Africa. London, 1709.
Demarin, John Peter. A Treatise upon the Trade from Great Britain
to Africa. . .By an African Merchant. London, 1772.
Donnan, Elizabeth. Documents Illustrative of the
History of the Slave Trade to America. 4 vols., Washington, D.C., 1930-35.
Donno, C.S., ed. An Elizabethan in 1582: The Diary of Richard
Madox. Hakluyt Society, 2nd ser., 147. London, 1976.
Duke, Antera. (see Forde, C. Daryll).
Duke, George. The Life of Major-General Worge, Colonel of
the 86th Regiment of Foot, and Governor of Senegal in Africa,
with an Account of the Settlement of Senegal and Goree. London, 1844.
Eden, Richard. The Decades of the Newe World. . .. London, 1555.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative and
Other Writings. ed. Vincent Carretta. London, 1995. orig. pub. London, 1789.
Falconbridge, Alexander. An Account of the Slave Trade on the Coast of
Africa. London, 1788.
Falconbridge, Mrs. Anna Maria. Narrative of Two Voyages to the
River Sierra Leone during the Years 1791-2-3. . .. London , 1794.
2nd ed. 1802 (facs. ed. 1967).
Faria Y Sousa, Manuel de. Asia Portuguesa. 3 vols., Lisbon,
1666-75. (Eng. trans. J. Stevens, The Portugues Asia, 3 vols. London, 1695.
Forde, C. Daryll. Efik Traders of Old Calabar. . .;
The Diary of Antera Duke, an Efik Slave-Trading Chief of the Eighteenth
Century. London, 1956.
Frejus, Roland de. The Relation of a Voyage Made into Mauritania
in Africk by the Sieur Roland Frejus. . .. London, 1671.
Froger, Francois. Relation of a Voyage. . . on the
Coasts of Africa. . . by a Squadron of French Men-of-War. London, 1698.
G-----, J.S. The Detector Detected, or the State of Affairs
on the Gold Coast. London, 1753.
Gonja Chronicles. (see Wilks, Ivor).
Grace, Edward. (see Ashton, T.S.).
Gronniosaw (Granwasa), James Albert Ukawsaw. A Narrative of
the Most Remarkable Particulars in the Life of James Albert
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, an African Prince, as Related by Himself. Bath, 1770?.
Hair, P.E.H., ed. East of Mina: Afro-European Relations on
the Gold Coast in the 1550s and 1560s. . .. African Studies
Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1988.
__________, ed. Jesuit Documents on the Guinea of Cape
Verde and the Cape Verde Islands, 1585-1617: Documents Assembled by the
Late Avelino Teixeira da Mota and Translated by P.E.H. Hair.
Issued for the Use of Scholars by the History Department, University of Liverpool, 1989.
__________, ed. Sierra Leone and the English in 1607: Extracts
from the Unpublished Journals of the Keeling Voyage to the
East Indies. Freetown, Institute of African Studies, 1981.
__________, ed. Travails in Guinea: Robert Baker's "Briefe
Dyscourse". . .. Liverpool Historical Essays, 2. Liverpool University Press, 1990.
Hair, P.E.H., Adam Jones and Robin Law, eds. Barbot on
Guinea: The Writings of Jean Barbot on West Africa, 1678-1712.
Hakluyt Society, 2nd ser., 175-6. London, 1992.
Hakluyt, Richard. The Principal Navigations. . . . London, 1589.
Hallett, Robin. Records of the African
Association. London, 1964.
Harleian Collection. (see Osborne, Thomas).
Harris, John, D.D., F.R.S. A Complete Collection of Voyages
and Travels. . .. 4 vols., London, 1744-48.
Herbert, Sir Thomas. A Relation of Some Years Travaile. . .
into Afrique and the Greater Asia. London, 1634 and subsequent eds.
Heylin, Peter. Cosmographie. . .Containing the Chorographie
and Historie of the Whole World. London, 1652.
Highfield, Arnold R. and Vladimir Barac,
eds. A Caribbean Mission. New York, 1987.
Hippisley (Hippersley), John. Essays on the Populousness of Africa, on
the Trade at the Forts on the Gold Coast. . .. London, 1764.
Hiskett, Mervyn, trans. and ed. Tazyin al-Waraqat. Ibadan, 1963.
Hoare, Prince. Memoirs of Granville Sharp, Esq. Composed from. . .
Authentic Documents in the Possession of his Family and of the African
Institution. . .. London, 1820.
Hodgson, W.B. Notes on Northern Africa, the Sahara
and the Soudan. New York, 1844.
Hollingsworth, S. A Dissertation on theManners, Governments and Spirit of
Africa, to whcih is Added Observations on the Present Applications to
Parliament for Abolishing Negro Slavery in the British West Indies. . ..
Edinburgh, 1788.
Hopkins, J.F.P. and Nehemia Levitzon. Corpus of Early Arabic Sources for West African History.
Cambridge, 1981.
Horne, Rev. Melvill. Letters on Missions, Addressed to the Protestant
Ministers of the British Churches. Bristol, 1794.
Houston (Houstoun), Dr. James. Some New and Accurate Observations
. . . of the Coast of Guinea. . .. London, 1725.
Isert, Dr. Paul Erdmann. (see Winsnes, Selena).
Jackson, James Grey. An Account of the Empire of Marocco. . . to
which is Added an Accurate and Intersting Account of Timbuctoo. . ..
London, 1809. (facs. ed. 1968).
__________. An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa. Territories in the Interior
of Africa, by El Hage Abd Salam Shabeeny. . . to which is Added Letters
Descriptive of Trade through West and South Barbary. London, 1820.
(facs. ed. 1967).
Jobson, Richard. The Golden Trade, or a Discovery of the River
Gambra and the Golden Trade of the Aethiopians. . .. London, 1623.
Johnston, Capt. John. The Journal of an African Slaver, 1789-1792.
facs. ed. with intro. by George A. Plimpton, Worcester, MA, 1930.
Jones, Adam. Brandenburg Sources for West African History,
1680-1700. Wiesbaden, 1985.
Jones, Adam. "The Earliest German Sources for West African History
(1504-1509)." Paideuma, 35 (1989), 148.
__________. German Sources for West African History, 1599-1669. Wiesbaden, 1983.
Kimble, G.H.T., ed. and trans. Esmeraldo de Situ Orbis. Hakluyt
Society, 2nd ser., 79, London, 1937.
Knox, J. A New Collection of Voyages, Discoveries and Travels. . .. 7 vols., London, 1767.
Lamb(e), Bulfinch. Letter Written from Abomey, 27 November 1724.
Lange, Dierck. A Sudanic Chronicle: The Bornu Expeditions of Idris Alauma
(1564-1576). Stuggart and Weisbaden, 1988.
Law, Robin, ed. Correspondence of the Royal African Company's
Chief Merchants at Cabo Corso Castle with William's Fort, Whydah,
and the Little Popo Factory. . .. African Studies Program,
University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1991.
__________. Correspondence from the Royal African Co.'s Factories.
. . on the Slave Coast. . ., 1678-93. Centre of African Studies,
University of Edinburgh, 1990.
__________, ed. Further Correspondence of the Royal African
Co.. . .Relating to the "Slave Coast," 1681-1699. African
Studies Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1992.
Le Blanc, Vincent. The World Surveyed, or the Famous
Voyages and Travailes. . .. London, 1660.
Le Maire, Jacques-Joseph. A Voyage of the Sieur Le Maire
to the Canary Islands, Cape Verd, Senegal, and Gamby. . .. London, 1696.
Leo, Johannes (Leo Africanus). A Geographical Historie of Africa. London, 1600. (reprint ed.,
New York, Da Capo Press, 1969).
Ligon, Richard. A True and Exact History of the Island of
Barbados. . .. London, 1657. (facs. eds., 1970, 1976).
Lindsay, Rev. John. A Voyage to the Coast of Africa in 1758, Containing
a Succinct Account of the Expedition to, and the Taking of the
Island of Goree by, a Squadron Commanded by the Hon. Augustus Keppel. London, 1759.
Makepeace, Margaret, ed. Trade on the Guinea Coast, 1657-1666:
The Correspondence of the East India Company. African Studies
Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1991.
Martin, Eveline. Journal of a Slave Dealer. . . on the Coast of
Africa and America from. . . 1746. . . to. . . 1757. London, 1930.
Mathews, John, Lt., R.N. A Voyage to the River Sierra Leone. . . an
Account of the Trade and Production. . . and of the Civil and Religious
Customs and Manners. . . With an Additional Letter on the Subject of the
Slave Trade. . .. London, 1788. 2nd ed., 1791. (facs. ed. 1966).
Middleton, Charles Theodore. A New and Complete System of Geography. 2 vols., London, 1779.
Montefiore, Joshua. An Authentic Account of
the Late Expedition to Bulam on the Coast of Africa: With a
Description of. . . Sierra Leone and the Adjacent Country.
London, 1794.
Moore, Francis. Travels in the Inland Parts of Africa. . .
. London, 1738 (2nd ed., 1740; facs. ed., 1968.)
Moore, John Hamilton. A New and Complete Collection of Voyages and
Travels. 2 vols. London, n.d. [1780].
Park, Mungo. Travels into the Interior Districts of Africa. London, 1799.
Munster, Sebastien. A Treatyse of the Newe India with Other Newfounde Landes and
Islands. trans. Richard Eden. London, 1553.
Newbery, John. The World Displayed, or a Curious Collection of Voyages
and Travels. 20 vols. London, 1760-61 and later eds.
Newton, Rev. John. An Authentic Narrative of Some Remarkable and
Interesting Particulars in the Life of ** *****. London, 1764.
__________. Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade. London, 1787.
Norris, Robert. Memoirs of the Reign of Bossa Ahadee, King of Dahomy.
. . to which are Added the Author's Journey to Abomey. . . and a Short
Account of the African Slave Trade. London, 1789. facs. ed., 1968.
[Parliament, United Kingdom]. Sessional Papers.
Postlethwayt, Malachy. The African Trade, the Great Pillar and Support
of the British Plantation Trade in America. . .. London, 1745.
__________. The National and Private Advantages of the African Trade
Considered, Being an Enquiry How Far it Concerns the the Trading Interest of
Great Britain Effectually to Support and Maintain the Forts and
Settlements in Africa Belonging to the Royal African Company. . ..
London, 1746. (repr. ed., 1772).
__________. The Importance of the African Expedition. . .. London, 1758.
Ogilby, John. Africa, Being an Accurate Description.
. .. London, 1670.
Oldendorp, Christian Georg Andreas. (see Highfield,
Arnold R., and Vladimir Barac, eds., A Caribbean Mission).
Osborn, Capt. Robert. A Narrative or Journal of the Duke of
Cumberland, Indiaman, Captain Robert Osborn. . .. London, 1750.
Osborne, Thomas. A Collection of Voyages and
Travels, Consisting of Authentic Writers in Our Own Tongue. . .
and Continued with Others of Note. . .Compiled from the Library of the Late
Earl of Oxford. . .. Printed for. . .Thomas Osborne, 2 vols., London, 1745.
Pellow (Pellew), Thomas. The History of the Long Captivity of Thomas
Pellow in South Barbary, by Himself. London, 1739, 2nd ed., 1740.
Pigafetta, Filippo, and Duarte Lopez. A Report of the Kingdome of
Congo, a Region of Africa, and of the Countries that Border
Rounde the Same. London, 1597. (repr. in Samuel Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus).
Purchas, Samuel. Hakluytus Posthumus, or Purchas
His Pilgrimes, London, 1625. (var. repr. ed.).
Ravenstein, E.G. The Strange Adventures of Andrew Battell. . .in Angola. Hakluyt Society, 2nd ser., 6. London, 1901.
Renneville, René-Augustin-Constantin de. A Collection
of Voyages Made by the Dutch East India Company. . .. London, 1703.
Richardson, William. (see Childers,
Col. Spencer).
Roberts, Capt. George. The Four Years Voyages of Captain George Roberts.
. . to the Islands of the Canaries, Cape de Verde, and Barbadoes,
from whence He Was Bound to the Coast of Guiney. . . Written by Himself. London, 1726.
Robertson, Dr. Robert. A Physical Journal Kept. . . during Three
Voyages on the Coast of Africa and the West Indies in the Years 1772-74. London, 1777.
Robyn, Jacob, with Arent Roggeveen. The Burning Fen. Pt. 2,
London, 1687. (modern ed., trans. C. Koeman, Amsterdam, 1971).
Royal African, The. The Royal African, or Memoirs of the Young
Prince of Annamaboe. . .. London, n.d. (ca. 1749).
Royal African Company. A Detection of the Proceedings and Practices.
. .of the Royal African Company of England. . ., with Remarks on the
Use and Importance of the British Forts and Settlements on the Coast of Guiney. . .. London, 1749.
Ryder, A.F.C. "An Early Portuguese Trading Voyage to the Fourcados River."
Journal of the Historical Society of Nigeria. 1, 4 (1959), 512-535.
Sancho, Ignatius. The Letters of the Late Ignatius Sancho, and
African. 2 vols. London, 1782. (facs. ed. 1968).
Saugnier, F. and Pierre Raymond de Brisson. Voyages to the Coast of
Africa. London, 1792. (reprint ed., New York, 1969).
Schotte, Johann Peter. A Treatise on the Synochus Atrabilosa,
a Contagious Fever which Raged at Senegal in the Year 1779. London, 1782.
Smeathman, Henry. Plan of a Settlement to be Made Near Sierra Leone
on the Grain Coast of Africa. London, 1786.
Smith, William. A New Voyage to Guinea. . .. London, 1744.
(subseq. ed., 1745; facs. ed., 1967).
Snelgrave, Capt. William. A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the
Slave Trade, Containing. . .the History of the Late Conquest of the Kingdom
of Whidaw by the King of Dahomè. London, 1734.
(2nd ed. 1754; facs. ed., 1971).
Stanfield, James Field. Observations on a Guinea Voyage in a Series of
Letters Addressed to the Rev. Thomas Clarkson. London, 1788.
Taylor, E.G.R., ed. A Briefe Summe of Geographie. Hakluyt Society,
2nd. ser., 69. London, 1932.
__________. The Troublesome Voyage of Captain Edward Fenton. Hakluyt
Society, 2nd ser., 103. London, 1957.
Thompson, Rev. Thomas. An Account of Two Missionary Voyages. . .
the One to New Jersey. . .the Other to the Coast of Guiney.
London, 1758. (facs. ed., 1937).
__________. The African Trade for Negro Slaves Shewn to Be Consistent
with the Principles of Humanity and of Revealed Religion. Canterbury, n.d. (1772).
__________. Memoirs of an English Missionary to the Coast of Guinea. London, 1788.
Todd, Silas. An Account of the Life of, and Dealings of God with,
Silas Todd, Late Preacher of the Gospel. . .Written by Himself. London, 1786.
[Touchet, Samuel]. A letter to a Merchant of Bristol Concerning a Petition
of S-- T-- Esq. to the King for an Exclusive Grant of the Trade
of the River Senegal. . .by a Merchant of London. London, 1762.
[Tweed, Mr.]. Considerations and remarks on the Present State of the
Trade with Africa, with Some Account of the British Settlement. . .by
a Gentleman who Resided Upwards of Fifteen Years in that Country. London, 1771.
Uring, Capt. Nathaniel. A History of the Voyages and Travels
of Captain Nathaniel Uring. London, 1726. (subseq. eds., 1727,
1749; modern ed. Capt. Alfred Dewar, London, 1928).
Uthman, Muhammad Fodiye [Usuman dan Fodio].
Bayan Wujub al-Hijra Ala'l-Ibad. Khartoum and Oxford,
1978.
Verger, Pierre. Trade Relations Between the Gulf of Benin and Bahia.
Evelyn Crawford, trans., Ibadan, 1976.
Villault, Nicolas, Sieur de Bellefond. A Relation of the Coasts
of Africa Called Guinee / . . .of Africk Called Guinee. London, 1670.
Wadstrom, Carl Bernhard. An Essay on Colonization. . . Particularly
Applied to the Western Coast of Africa. . .. 2 vols., London, 1794-5.
(facs. ed. 1968).
__________. Observations on the Slave Trade and a
Description of Some Part of the Coast of Guinea during a Voyage Made
in 1787 and 1788. . . with Dr. A. Sparman and Capt. Arrhenius.
London, 1789.
__________. Plan for a Free Community at Sierra Leona. London,
1789 and 1792.
Watts, John. A True Relation of the Inhumane and Unparallel'd
Actions and Barbarous Murders of Negroes or Moors, Committed on Three
English-men in Old Calabar in Guinny. . . . London, 1672.
Weaver, H. Daily Life in the Kingdom of the Kongo. . ..
London, 1967.
Wilks, Ivor, Nehemia Levitzon, and Bruce M.
Height, eds. Chronicles from Gonja. Fontes Historiae
Africanae, Series Arabica, 9, Cambridge, 1986.
Winsnes, Selena Axelrod. Letters on
West Africa and the Slave Trade. . .. Oxford, 1992.
various accounts of voyages to Africa.
Session 1790: xxix, 698-9
Session 1790-1: xxxiv, 745-8
Session 1847-8: xxii, 272, 366, 536,
623
Session 1849: xix, 308, 410
Session 1850: ix, 53, 590