After his return from West Africa, Jean Barbot worked on the journals
he had made of his voyages, in order to get them ready for publication.
He drew a frontispiece for them, of which this is a part. For various
reasons, Barbot was unable to get a publisher at that time. He then
revised the journals and translated them into English, but died 20
years before they were eventually published in 1732.
The design of the frontispiece is typical of the period. In this section,
cherubs helpfully point to the west coast of Africa on a globe. Note
the personification of the Niger river, set against an idyllic pastoral
background in which nature appears to have been tamed.
ADM 7/830A, f. 3 (1688)
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