Voyage à la Guiane et à Cayenne, fait en 1789 et années suivantes

ix-[1]-400 pages with 4 plates including frontispiece and watercolor foldout map drawn and engraved on copper by Dalencour. Octavo (8" x 5") bound in half leather with spine label over speckled boards. Author's printed signature certifying that this edition is not counterfeit. French-Galibi dictionary pages 371-400. (Sabin 66412) First edition.

Subtitle: Containing a geographical description of these countries, the History of their Discovery; the Possessions and Establishments of the French, Dutch, Spanish and Portuguese in this immense country. The climate, the productions of the land, the animals, the names of the rivers, that of the various savage nations, their customs, and the most advantageous trade that can be made there. The most remarkable features of the Oneroque and the Amazon River. Observations, 1 °. To enter the Port of Cayenne and anchor there; 2 °. To get out by avoiding all the dangers; 3 °. The Distances and the Roads of the main Places of Guiane, the Winds that reign on the Coasts. Followed by a French and Galibi vocabulary of the Names, Verbs and Adjectives most used in our language, compared to that of the Indians of Guiane, to be heard relative to the objects most necessary to the needs of life.

The book begins with an explanation of the flora and fauna of the Guyana area. The lifestyle of the Indians who live in the area between the Orinoco River and the Amazon is also widely available. The author praises the Dutch. They have created fertile land by draining marshes and digging canals. The entire history of the colonization of Suriname is also examined. The administration of the colony takes place from Amsterdam where a college consisting of magistrates of the city of Amsterdam, of the West India Company (WIC) and the van Sommelsdijk family.If a master wants to set a slave free, writes Prudhomme, he is obliged to buy a letter of instruction (lettres de franchise). Without this document, no black person can receive Christian instruction or be baptized. He must also ensure that the ex-slave learns a profession so that he can provide for himself. When a slave becomes a father, he lets his master choose a name; if it is a girl then the mistress decides. The European population group defines Prudhomme as that group of people born of European fathers. Among them there is a great freedom which, according to Prudhomme, does not exist in France.Without this document, no black person can receive Christian instruction or be baptized. He must also ensure that the ex-slave learns a profession so that he can provide for himself. When a slave becomes a father, he lets his master choose a name; if it is a girl then the mistress decides. The European population group defines Prudhomme as that group of people born of European fathers. Among them there is a great freedom which, according to Prudhomme, does not exist in France.Without this document, no black person can receive Christian instruction or be baptized. He must also ensure that the ex-slave learns a profession so that he can provide for himself. When a slave becomes a father, he lets his master choose a name; if it is a girl then the mistress decides. The European population group defines Prudhomme as that group of people born of European fathers. Among them there is a great freedom which, according to Prudhomme, does not exist in France.The European population group defines Prudhomme as that group of people born of European fathers. Among them there is a great freedom which, according to Prudhomme, does not exist in France.

Louis-Marie Prudhomme was a French journalist and historian. A bookseller in Lyon, then in Paris, Prudhomme settled in Meaux as a bookbinder. He returned in Paris, and was stopped several times for his writings: between 1787 and 1789, he is thought to have written about 1,500 lampoons. In 1796 he published a two-volume work that was a list of all persons known to him who were sent to death during the Reign of Terror. In 1799, Prudhomme became director of the hospitals of Paris, but continued to work as a printer, publisher, and writer-compiler.

Condition:

Dark red label slightly rubbed but more on joints, some foxing, corners bumped and rubbed through, spine ends rubbed and spine scared else good to very good.