43 - LABAT (Jean-Baptiste). New Account of West Africa: containing an accurate description of Senegal and the regions located between Cap-Blanc and the Serrelionne River, extending more than 300 leagues inland. The Natural History of these Regions, the Various Nations Settled There, Their Religions and Customs. With an Account of the Past and Present State of the Companies Engaged in Trade There. Paris, Pierre-François Giffard, 1728. 5 volumes in-12, contemporary brown sheepskin, decorated ribbed spine. Minor losses to some cap ends, some scuffs and rubbing.

LABAT (Jean-Baptiste). New Account of West Africa: containing an accurate description of Senegal and the regions located between Cap-Blanc and the Serrelionne River, extending more than 300 leagues inland. The Natural History of these Regions, the Various Nations Settled There, Their Religions and Customs. With an Account of the Past and Present State of the Companies Engaged in Trade There. Paris, Pierre-François Giffard, 1728. 5 volumes in-12, contemporary brown sheepskin, decorated ribbed spine. Minor losses to some cap ends, some scuffs and rubbing. 77 (of 78) intaglio-engraved maps, plans, and illustrations, most of which are fold-outs, plus 2 pages of fold-out tables in volume 2. First edition, published jointly by the booksellers Cavelier, Le Gras, and Giffart, of this important account devoted to West Africa, primarily Senegal and the territories between Cap-Blanc and Sierra Leone. Although he had not traveled to these regions himself, Jean-Baptiste Labat (1663–1738) compiled his work from various sources, notably the memoirs of André Brüe (1654–1738), director of the Senegal Company. It compiles a wealth of geographical, historical, and ethnographic information on the peoples, their customs, as well as the flora and fauna. It also describes European settlements and trading posts, notably Saint-Louis and Gorée, trade along the African coast, and the slave trade. A handwritten bookplate reading “le Chevalier de Grandmont” is repeated on the second endpaper of each volume.