Description: Sketches in Sierra Leone. Illustrated London News 1856 This is the centerspread only, from the Oct. 25, 1856, issue of The Illustrated London News. It was published across two pages, and measures 16 x 22 inches in size overall. It is over 165 years old. It has small old perforations down its centerfold crease from once being bound in the full London News issue, but these don't intrude to any content on the large sheet (see photos); and the overall print remains in excellent and very attractive condition, printed on a high quality grade of paper, which is bright and clean, showing barely any aging. The item will be shipped folded once, as originally published. Spread across the pages are eight fine wood-engraved scenes. Their captions are: * Egg-Gu-Gu, Itinerant Necromancer, and Music. * Bambooing a Hut. * Interior of Piazza. * Freetown, Sierra Leone, Pademba Road. * Waterloo Market. * Exterior of Kitchen. * Interior of Kitchen. * Sherbro Village. All of these scenes show the people of Sierra Leone going about their daily lives They are accompanied by a lengthy article which has its text interspersed among the illustrations, and then continues for over 19 column inches of text in small print on the reverse side of the sheet. Written by a recent traveler to the country, it begins by saying the popular conception in England of Sierra Leone is extreme in its negativity, but is an incorrect understanding of the country. The article starts: SIERRA LEONE has acquired a reputation which in the minds of most people in England is so irresistibly associated with the name of the White Man's Grave, with ideas of fever and death, a scorching sun, arid sands, and dry crisping winds, alternating with heavy and continuous rains, tornadoes, terrific thunder and lightning, fogs and mists, and their attendant consequencesdamp, mildew, rust, and decomposition; with a climate in which the pestilential breath of death has been said to lurk in every calm . . . . that a prejudice may, very naturally, have been engendered to an extent which has rendered most subjects connected with this interesting quarter of the world repugnant or distasteful to the generality of our readers. Nevertheless, we are not aware of any one exception to the sentiments which have been promulgated by visitors to this colony, expressive of the gratifying interest they had experienced on first contemplating the beauties of its scenery, the extent and pleasing aspect of its African populationto whom no truthful delineator of nature could well fail to feel indebted for some of the happiest efforts to combine the grotesque, and even the burlesque, with the picturesque. . . . It goes on to say of Freetown, that due to, . . . the exigencies of an increasing population during many years, arising from the frequent arrival of Africans captured and liberated by our cruisers from the merciless grip of the slave-dealer, the town has grown far beyond its former size: . . . The class of dwellings bespeak the industrious habits and consequent worldly advancement of a considerable number of the liberated African population; some of whom . . . have raised themselves to be classed among the most opulent merchants of Freetown. . . It goes on to give colorful descriptions of the urchins of the city, and the life and buildings found in the market places of Sierra Leone, as well as the typical extensive kitchens in many homes. It discusses briefly some characteristics of the Kussoo and Sherbro tribes, and includes a longer discussion of how superstitions flourish in Africa, to a baneful extent. Etc. _gsrx_vers_1680 (GS 9.8.3 (1680))
Price: 14.95 USD
Location: Camp Hill, Pennsylvania
End Time: 2024-11-07T02:28:21.000Z
Shipping Cost: 5.5 USD
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Restocking Fee: No
Return shipping will be paid by: Buyer
All returns accepted: Returns Accepted
Item must be returned within: 30 Days
Refund will be given as: Money Back
