Fontes Historiae Africanae Research Articles

African voices from the inquisition, I: The trial of Crispina Peres of Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau (1646–1668). Edited and translated by Toby Green, Philip Havik and F. Ribeiro da Silva. (Fontes Historiae Africanae: Sources of African History, 18.) Pp. lxviii + 241. Oxford–New York: Oxford University Press (for The British Academy), 2021. £80. 978 0 19 726676 2

African voices from the inquisition, I: The trial of Crispina Peres of Cacheu, Guinea-Bissau (1646–1668). Edited and translated by Toby Green, Philip Havik and F. Ribeiro da Silva. (Fontes Historiae Africanae: Sources of African History, 18.) Pp. lxviii + 241. Oxford–New York: Oxford University Press (for The British Academy), 2021. £80. 978 0 19 726676 2 - Volume 73 Issue 3

Arabic medieval inscriptions from the Republic of Mali; epigraphy, chronicles and Songhay-Tuareg history. By P. F. De Moraes Farias, Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series, Sources of African History 4, published for the British Academy, by Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0197262228, pp. 280, 14 maps and site plans, 69 b/w pls. Price: £99.

Arabic medieval inscriptions from the Republic of Mali; epigraphy, chronicles and Songhay-Tuareg history. By P. F. De Moraes Farias, Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series, Sources of African History 4, published for the British Academy, by Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN 0197262228, pp. 280, 14 maps and site plans, 69 b/w pls. Price: £99. - Volume 35

"The History of Ashanti Kings and the Whole Country Itself" and Other Writings

History of Ashanti and the Whole Country and Other Writings. Edited by A. Adu Boahen, Emmanuel Akyeampong, Nancy Lawler, T. C. McCaskie, and Ivor Wilks. Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series: Sources of African History, 6. New York: Oxford University Press/British Academy, 2003. Pp. x, 234. $39.95. The History ofAshanti and the Whole Country Itself and Other Writings is billed as a documentary history, yet it is also both biography and autobiography of one of the most compelling figures in Ghanaian history, Asantehene Agyeman Prempeh I. It contains the oldest surviving written genealogy of the Asante royal lineage as related by the ultimate insider. It includes a mythic and historical narrative of the formation of the Asante state as told by Prempeh, as well as an account of the turbulence of the advent of British colonialism through Prempeh's early reign, his exile in the Seychelles, and his eventual return to a state now under colonial rule as conveyed by the five luminaries of Ghanaian historical studies who formed the editorial committee for this volume. Ultimately, this may prove to be the most successful volume in the British Academy's new Fontes Historiae Africanae Series, and it is both an inspiration and a valuable source for students of African history. This is not only a history in documents, but also the history of a document that itself has witnessed, survived, and in part been ravaged by the turbulence of postcolonial Ghana. Finally, it is a labor of love on the part of five distinguished scholars who collaborated as editors - Adu Boahen, Emmanueal Akyampong, Nancy Lawler, T.C. McCaskie, and Ivor Wilks. These editors must have experienced that moment of which historians dream-the discovery of a document of such incredible significance as to render even a renowned scholar humble. Wilks describes the night when, in Kumasi in 1968, he was given the original of Prempeh's History of Ashanti Kings by Joseph Agyeman-Duah on overnight loan, and spent a hellish night with an associate, desperately trying to hand-copy as much of the document as possible. Over the years, he and A. Adu Boahen managed to photocopy or copy the remainder of the text-which was fortunate, as the original copies have since disappeared. History of the Ashanti Kings was an admirable feat for a king in exile. Even were Prempeh I not remembered for his accomplishments as asantehene (paramount ruler of Asantej and later kumasihene (Kumasi division chief), scholars would continue to celebrate his success in bridging the colonial divide and bringing so much of significance through to us. The major achievement of Boahen et al. may be that they have managed to preserve, index, and transcribe this work; they have also produced superbly researched individual chapters that complement the documents they contextualize. The documents presented here, chiefly History of the Ashante Kings but also a few letters and memoirs, were set down during the exile of Prempeh and many other members of the Asante leadership in the Seychelles following the 1896 conquest and subsequent annexation of the state to the British Gold Coast colony. Isolated from their homeland except by the addition of a further group of captives from the Asante War of Independence (1900-1901), Prempeh and his companions tried to replicate the state in miniature, as is related in Boahen's excellent chapter on the exile. Wilks argues that for Prempeh and his mother, Yaa Kyaa, the preservation of the history of their family and polity became a central mission. Fortunately, Prempeh had at hand a number of leading elder Asante statesmen. Through his son, Frederick Prempeh, and with the help of his entourage, Prempeh thus set down History of the Ashanti Kings. Divided thematically by the editorial committee for the purposes of this publication, the work deals with both practical and scholarly matters. Several chapters are devoted to early Asante history, and especially the reign of Osei Tutu. …

ROBIN LAW (ed.): The English in West Africa 1685–1688: the local correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, 1681–1699. Part 2. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series. Sources of African History, 5.) xvi, 468 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press for The British Academy, 2001. £45.

ROBIN LAW (ed.): The English in West Africa 1685–1688: the local correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, 1681–1699. Part 2. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series. Sources of African History, 5.) xvi, 468 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press for The British Academy, 2001. £45. - Volume 65 Issue 3

Robin Law (ed.): The English in West Africa 1681–1683: the local correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, 1681–1699. Part 1. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series. Sources of African History, no.1.) xix, 363 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1997. £45.

Robin Law (ed.): The English in West Africa 1681–1683: the local correspondence of the Royal African Company of England, 1681–1699. Part 1. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, New Series. Sources of African History, no.1.) xix, 363 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1997. £45. - Volume 61 Issue 3

Barbot on Guinea: The Writings of Jean Barbot on West Africa 1678-1712

In the early days of the J. Afr. Hist., this reviewer wrote uncharitably about publishers who would cheerfully produce so-called new editions of the great classical works of Africana with little or nothing in the way of editorial matter to guide readers through their often difficult and sometimes even misleading texts.' It is now beginning to look as though those days are passing. Indeed, even in the I960s as he was writing, the way forward was being shown within the Memdrias series of the Centro de Estudos de Cartografia Antiga in Lisbon; one might in particular recall the work of the late Admiral A. Teixeira da Mota.2 If perhaps in the wider world too little notice was taken of this initiative, it could well have been a factor leading to the establishment of the Union Academique Internationale's Fontes Historiae Africanae series, and to the British Academy's sponsorship of those of its volumes published in the United Kingdom. Among these, Albert van Dantzig and Adam Jones's annotated English translation of Pieter de Marees's I602 description of the Gold Coast is a quite excellent example of what can be achieved in relation to West Africa.3 But now, with this edition of Jean Barbot's writings, the Hakluyt Society's series of modern editions of the original accounts of notable voyages and travels, a series which has upheld wholly laudable standards of scholarship for the best part of I 50 years, has returned to a field which at least so far as concerns West Africa it has rather neglected since the halcyon years I937-42, when it issued editions of Pacheco's Esmeraldo by George Kimble and of Ca' Da Mosto's Voyages by G. R. Crone, and John Blake's selection of documents illustrating the earliest European contacts wvith Guinea.' Professor Hair, the chief editor of the Hakluyt Society's two new volumes, was long a collaborator with Teixeira da Mota,5 and it must now be something like twenty years ago that he began to argue the need for a full scholarly edition of the

Selena Axelrod Winsnes (ed. and tr.): Letters on West Africa and the slave trade: Paul Erdmann Isert's Journey to Guinea and the Caribbean Islands in Columbia (1788). (Union Academique Internationale Fontes Historiae Africanae. Series Varia, vn.) x, 278 pp. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1992. £30.

Selena Axelrod Winsnes (ed. and tr.): Letters on West Africa and the slave trade: Paul Erdmann Isert's Journey to Guinea and the Caribbean Islands in Columbia (1788). (Union Academique Internationale Fontes Historiae Africanae. Series Varia, vn.) x, 278 pp. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1992. £30.

Isert in English - Letters on West Africa and the Slave Trade: Paul Erdmann Isert's Journey to Guinea and the Caribbean Islands in Columbia (1788). Translated and edited by Selena Axelrod Winsnes. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia, VII). Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1992. Pp. x + 278, maps and illus. £30.

Isert in English - Letters on West Africa and the Slave Trade: Paul Erdmann Isert's Journey to Guinea and the Caribbean Islands in Columbia (1788). Translated and edited by Selena Axelrod Winsnes. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia, VII). Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1992. Pp. x + 278, maps and illus. £30. - Volume 33 Issue 3

Bamana Segu: an Annotated Epic - A State of Intrigue: The Epic of Bamana Segu According to Tayiru Banbera. Edited by David Conrad. (Fontes Historiae Africanae; Series Varia vi.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, for the British Academy, 1990. Pp. x+360. £26, paperback.

Bamana Segu: an Annotated Epic - A State of Intrigue: The Epic of Bamana Segu According to Tayiru Banbera. Edited by David Conrad. (Fontes Historiae Africanae; Series Varia vi.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, for the British Academy, 1990. Pp. x+360. £26, paperback. - Volume 33 Issue 1

Lost in Ethiopia - The Historical Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century A.D. to 1704. By the late G. W. B. Huntingford, edited by Richard Pankhurst (and with Ethiopic spellings revised by David Appleyard). (Fontes Historiae Africanae: Series Varia iv.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, for the British Academy, 1989. Pp. xlix+331. £60.

Lost in Ethiopia - The Historical Geography of Ethiopia: From the First Century A.D. to 1704. By the late G. W. B. Huntingford, edited by Richard Pankhurst (and with Ethiopic spellings revised by David Appleyard). (Fontes Historiae Africanae: Series Varia iv.) Oxford: Oxford University Press, for the British Academy, 1989. Pp. xlix+331. £60.

G. W. B. Huntingford: The historical geography of Ethiopia from the first century A.D. to 1704. Edited by Richard Pankhurst. Ethiopic spellings revised by David Appleyard. (Union Académique Internationale. Fontes Historiae Africanae. Series Varia iv.) xlix, 311pp., 20 maps. Oxford: Oxford University Press, for the British Academy, 1989. £60.

G. W. B. Huntingford: The historical geography of Ethiopia from the first century A.D. to 1704. Edited by Richard Pankhurst. Ethiopic spellings revised by David Appleyard. (Union Académique Internationale. Fontes Historiae Africanae. Series Varia iv.) xlix, 311pp., 20 maps. Oxford: Oxford University Press, for the British Academy, 1989. £60.

The historical geography of Ethiopia: from the first century AD to 1704. By the late G. W. B. Huntingford. Edited by Richard Pankhurst, Ethiopic spellings revised by David Appleyard. (Union Académique Internationale: Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia IV.) pp. xlix, 311, 20 pp. of maps. Oxford, Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1989. £60.00.

The historical geography of Ethiopia: from the first century AD to 1704. By the late G. W. B. Huntingford. Edited by Richard Pankhurst, Ethiopic spellings revised by David Appleyard. (Union Académique Internationale: Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia IV.) pp. xlix, 311, 20 pp. of maps. Oxford, Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1989. £60.00.

Oral and Written - Towards a Reconstructed Past: Historical Texts from Busoga, Uganda. Edited by David William Cohen. Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia III. Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press: Oxford and New York, 1986. Pp. xii + 363. £38.

Oral and Written - Towards a Reconstructed Past: Historical Texts from Busoga, Uganda. Edited by David William Cohen. Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia III. Published for the British Academy by Oxford University Press: Oxford and New York, 1986. Pp. xii + 363. £38. - Volume 30 Issue 2

Albert Van Dantzig and Adam Jones (ed. and tr.): Description and historical account of the Gold Kingdom of Guinea (1602), [by] Pieter de Marees (Union Academique nternationale. Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia, v.) xxvi, 272 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1987. £ 37.50

Albert Van Dantzig and Adam Jones (ed. and tr.): Description and historical account of the Gold Kingdom of Guinea (1602), [by] Pieter de Marees (Union Academique nternationale. Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia, v.) xxvi, 272 pp. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1987. £ 37.50 - Volume 52 Issue 2

Seventeenth Century Gold Coast - Description and Historical Account of the Gold Kingdom of Guinea (1602). By Pieter de Marees. Translated from the Dutch and edited by Albert van Dantzig and Adam Jones. Union Académique Internationale, Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia V; Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1987. Pp. xxvi + 272. £37.50.

Seventeenth Century Gold Coast - Description and Historical Account of the Gold Kingdom of Guinea (1602). By Pieter de Marees. Translated from the Dutch and edited by Albert van Dantzig and Adam Jones. Union Académique Internationale, Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia V; Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1987. Pp. xxvi + 272. £37.50.

The Sudan Memoirs of Carl Christian Giegler Pasha, 1873–83. Edited by Richard Hill; translated from the German by Thirza Küpper, with a foreword by the Pasha's great-granddaughter, Heidi Groha. Fontes Historiae Africanae Series Varia II. London: Oxford University Press for The British Academy, 1984. Pp. xxxii + 231. 12 plates, 3 maps. £18.

The Sudan Memoirs of Carl Christian Giegler Pasha, 1873–83. Edited by Richard Hill; translated from the German by Thirza Küpper, with a foreword by the Pasha's great-granddaughter, Heidi Groha. Fontes Historiae Africanae Series Varia II. London: Oxford University Press for The British Academy, 1984. Pp. xxxii + 231. 12 plates, 3 maps. £18. - Volume 28 Issue 2

Shari'a in Songhay: The replies of al-Maghīlī to the questions of Askia al-Ḥājj Muḥammad. Edited, translated and introduced by John O. Hunwick. (Union Académique Internationale, Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Arabica V.) pp. xvi, 165, 48 (Arabic text), 6 pl., 2 maps. London, Oxford University press for the British Academy, 1985. £23.00.

Shari'a in Songhay: The replies of al-Maghīlī to the questions of Askia al-Ḥājj Muḥammad. Edited, translated and introduced by John O. Hunwick. (Union Académique Internationale, Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Arabica V.) pp. xvi, 165, 48 (Arabic text), 6 pl., 2 maps. London, Oxford University press for the British Academy, 1985. £23.00.

The Sudan memoirs of Carl Christian Giegler Pasha, 1873–1883. Edited by Richard Hill, translated by Thirza Küpper. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia 11). pp. xxxii, 231. 12 pl. 3 maps. London, Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1984. £18.00

The Sudan memoirs of Carl Christian Giegler Pasha, 1873–1883. Edited by Richard Hill, translated by Thirza Küpper. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia 11). pp. xxxii, 231. 12 pl. 3 maps. London, Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 1984. £18.00 - Volume 117 Issue 1

J. E. P. Hopkins and N. Levtzion (ed.).: Corpus of early Arabic sources For West African history. Translated by J.F.P.Hopkins. Edited by J.F.P. Hopkins and N.Levtzion. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Arabica iv.) xx, 492 pp., map. Cambridge, etc.: Cambridge University Press, 1981. £35.

J. E. P. Hopkins and N. Levtzion (ed.).: Corpus of early Arabic sources For West African history. Translated by J.F.P.Hopkins. Edited by J.F.P. Hopkins and N.Levtzion. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Arabica iv.) xx, 492 pp., map. Cambridge, etc.: Cambridge University Press, 1981. £35.

The Mombasa Rising Against the Portuguese, 1631: From Sworn Evidence. Edited by G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia I.) London: Oxford University Press (for the British Academy), 1980. Pp. lvii + 166, £32.50 (soft covers).

The Mombasa Rising Against the Portuguese, 1631: From Sworn Evidence. Edited by G. S. P. Freeman-Grenville. (Fontes Historiae Africanae, Series Varia I.) London: Oxford University Press (for the British Academy), 1980. Pp. lvii + 166, £32.50 (soft covers). - Volume 22 Issue 3