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Description
BARROW (John).
A Voyage to Cochinchina, via the islands of Madeira, Tenerife and Cape Verde, Brazil and the island of Java, containing new and authentic information on the natural and civil conditions of these various countries; accompanied by the Official Account of a Journey to the Land of the Boushouanas, in the interior of Southern Africa.
Paris: F. Buisson, 1807. — 2 volumes in-8, 196 x 120, and an atlas in-4, 293 x 215: xiv, 406 pp., (1 f.); (2 ff.), 408 pp.; (2 ff.), 18 plates. Speckled tan sheepskin, cold-tooled fillet framing the covers, plain spine with decoration for the two volumes of text, and speckled tan half-sheepskin, plain spine with decoration for the atlas (contemporary bindings).
First edition of the translation by the geographer Conrad Malte-Brun (1775–1826) of the account of the journey to Cochinchina by the traveller and geographer John Barrow (1764–1848), who was then attached to the British embassy in China led by Lord Macartney.
In his translation, Malte-Brun makes significant alterations and additions, both in substance and form. In the fifth chapter, devoted to Brazil, he notably omits a digression on the freedom of Black people and the Saint-Domingue expedition, which he deemed to offer nothing new, with the exception of an extract from a proclamation by Dessalines, Emperor of Haiti. Although quoted faithfully, this text is criticised for its strident tone and its accusations against Napoleon and Leclerc. Malte-Brun justifies this omission on the grounds of sparing the reader unnecessary grandstanding, whilst reaffirming his intellectual independence from Barrow’s views. In place of these sections, Malte-Brun includes a treatise on Brazil, based on the best Portuguese, Spanish and Dutch sources, which he presents as the most comprehensive and reliable supplement ever published on that country. The description of Cochinchina, which occupies the last three chapters, forms the heart of Barrow’s work. Malte-Brun, recognising the richness and precision of this account, makes no alterations to it, save for the addition of a few details drawn from Loureiro’s Portuguese memoirs and Valentyn’s immense Dutch work—sources that were difficult to access and which Barrow had been unable to consult.
Chapter V recounts an expedition to Southern Africa led by Somerville, chief surgeon of the garrison at the Cape of Good Hope, and Truter, a member of the Court of Justice, with the aim of ‘finding cattle to purchase to replace those which an epizootic had recently taken from the colony’ (Vol. 1, p. 256). It offers valuable observations on the indigenous peoples (including the San Bushmen, referred to as ‘Boushouanas’ in the account, the Hottentots, etc.).
A complete copy of the atlas comprising 18 plates, including a ‘Sketch of the city and port of Rio de Janeiro’, two colour botanical engravings, and various views, all engraved by P. F. Tardieu. Four of the plates relate to Truter’s account of Africa: a map of Southern Africa, ‘Woman of the Hottentot-Koral tribe’, ‘Village of the Boushouanas’, and ‘Boushouanas, Man and Woman’.
This edition was also published by Arthus-Bertrand. In the latter edition, the ‘Alphabetical Table of Contents for these two volumes’, which occupies pages 373 to 408 of the second volume, is generally absent; however, it is present here.
Spines faded, leather covers scuffed. The spine of the atlas is damaged with missing sections. Watermark damage from page 381 to the end of the second volume, with some damage to the text.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
Claude Mozis Library – Black Africa and the African diaspora
Auction location
Auction time
10/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
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