Description
CASALIS (Eugène).
The Bassoutos, or Twenty-three Years’ Stay and Observations in Southern Africa.
Paris: Librairie de Ch. Meyrueis et Cie, 1859. — 8vo, 223 x 142: frontispiece, (2 leaves), XVI, 370 pp., (1 leaf), 7 plates, 1 map, printed cover. Paperback, untrimmed.
A very rare first edition of this work by the Protestant missionary Eugène Casalis (1812–1891), published in the ‘Nouvelle Bibliothèque des Familles’ series. Dated 1859 on the title page, it was listed in the *Bibliographie de la France* on 31 December of that year, though the cover bears the date 1860.
Casalis wrote this book after living in southern Africa for 23 years. Motivated by his experience, he sought to shed light on African peoples—who were often reduced to stereotypes at the time—and to defend their dignity: ‘I believe [the black race], despite its degradation, to be just as gifted as our own in terms of the faculties of the heart and the intellect’ (p. II). Unlike many travellers fascinated by the flora and fauna, he sought to understand the ideas and aspirations of the Africans who guided him. His approach, which was both missionary and ethnographic, aimed at the religious and social regeneration of the tribes he studied.
Casalis divides the peoples of southern Africa into two main groups: the Hottentots (including the Nama, Korana and Griqua) and the Kaffirs, comprising the Bechuanas and the Basotho, who are the main focus of the book. For the author, the Basuto embodied the ideal of the Xhosa race. Isolated in the Maluti Mountains, they had preserved their customs and their independence. Casalis describes in detail the customs and practices of this people, whilst emphasising in his preface that his observations applied, with some nuances, to all the Xhosa and Bechuanas tribes.
The edition is illustrated with several figures in the text, eight woodcut plates, and a fold-out map of Southern Africa, specially drawn for the work by Émile Rolland.
A paperback copy, largely untrimmed.
The cover is discoloured. The front cover is detached.
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
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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