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six old books are lined up in a row on a white surfacean old drawing of three men in native clothing standing in front of a firea drawing of a group of people on the beachan old black and white drawing of a man and a woman playing a game of frisbee
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21 - LABAT (Jean-Baptiste) – CAVAZZI (Giovanni Antonio).
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Estimate €400 - €600
Sale commission
Description
LABAT (Jean-Baptiste) – CAVAZZI (Giovanni Antonio). Historical Account of Western Ethiopia: Containing a Description of the Kingdoms of Congo, Angola and Matamba, translated from the Italian by Father Cavazzi, and supplemented by several Portuguese accounts from the finest authors. Paris: Charles-Jean-Baptiste Delespine the Younger, 1732. — 5 volumes in-12, 165 x 93: 487 pp. incorrectly paginated as 495, (10 ff.), 1 map, 8 plates; 457 pp., (12 ff.), 1 map, 12 plates; 462 pp., (16 ff.), 1 map, 1 plate; 506 pp., (13 ff.), 8 plates; 408 pp., (11 ff.). Brown calfskin, decorated ribbed spine, red edges (contemporary binding). First edition of the French translation, freely adapted by Jean-Baptiste Labat, of the account by the Capuchin missionary Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi (16..–1692) of his journey to the Congo between 1654 and 1666. Regarded as one of the most significant accounts of the period, this work is entirely devoted to the Congo and present-day Angola. First published in Italian in 1687, it was subsequently translated and expanded by Labat, who incorporated other accounts from Italian and Portuguese missions in these same regions, including the *Relation curieuse et nouvelle d’un voyage au Congo*, by Fathers Michel-Ange and Denis de Carlis (Capuchin missionaries in the Kingdom of Congo), as well as the *Journal of a Journey from Lisbon to the Island of São Tomé*, written by a Portuguese pilot in 1626 and translated into French by Labat himself. Illustrated with 29 plates and 3 previously unpublished maps, produced by the geographer Jean-Baptiste Bourguignon d’Anville, which served as standard references until the 19th century. These maps depict, respectively: Western Ethiopia (January 1732), the kingdoms of Angola, Matamba and Benguela (November 1731), and the Kingdom of Congo and its surroundings, from Cape Lopo (September 1731). The number of plates may vary depending on the copy: some do indeed contain two, illustrating two separate passages in the work. In some cases, the bookbinder has left these double plates as they were, whilst in others they have been separated and placed opposite the corresponding passages, thereby counting them as two separate plates. Bindings are damaged with missing sections, tears at several hinges, and stains on several covers. Foxing and water stains in places. Restored tears on the maps and some plates.
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About the sale Claude Mozis Library – Black Africa and the African diaspora
Auction location
Auction time 10/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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