[Archive] First hand accounts and reports illustrated with maps and photographs
Miscellaneous paper bindings and wrappers.
1937 - 1951
by Barrere, Lt. Serge - FRENCH WEST AFRICA - CHAD
1937 - 1951. Miscellaneous paper bindings and wrappers.. Very good.. 4to,
French West Africa succumbed to anti-colonial sentiment in 1958. Until that time it represented one of the great colonial occupations of the continent. This vast territory was the domain of the French colonial authority to administer. It remains to this day one of the last "unknowns" on the map of Africa. The reports of Lt Barrere are among the very few primary sources of knowledge regarding indigenous people and cultures in this isolate region. Long a crossing point for Arab traders of the north reaching down to the "gold coast" this empty region harbored ancient trade routes, traditions, and nomadic tribal cultures. WWII shattered that by supporting incursions and far-fetched plans for striking at the German occupation in the northern coastal areas through sub-Saharan corridors. French administration was active prior to the war and a short time thereafter. The archive reflects this gap. The contents are: 1- Fada. 51. Dec. 1951. [ii], 39pp [blue carbon, with some corrections, printed on rectos only] + three original hand-drawn and colored maps [including one showing the distribution of local tribes] + 13 leaves with 42 original photographs tipped on, and with facing (corresponding) typed caption leaves + original wrappers with string tie. Detailed first-hand report from an officer in the French colonial infantry, covering all aspects of this town in Chad, including its history under colonial rule, the economy, the building infrastructure, schools, commerce (e.g., palmeries, camels).The original photographs supplement the text, documenting the landscape surrounding this outpost, the main buildings, as well as its citizens (groups of men, women, and school children) and animals (including camels). 2- La Race Doza Borku. 56 pp., original typescript (first generation), on rectos only + 3 leaves of original illustrations of camels.In contemporary (1950) dossier folder. An anonymous reportbut presumably prepared by Lieut. Barrere-- on the main tribe of Fada, Chad, covering a range of topics relating to this desert trip, includes it origins, customs, relationships with other tribes, its various subunits (organized under specific chefs), and the three pages of illustrations show the specific marks made on camels to denote ownership of under his chef. 3- Louis, Xavier.Documents Sur Les Arabes dAti: Leur Pays et Leur Vie. No place or date, 1937? 42 pp., mimeograph + large folding map (oversize mimeograph(?) from a drawing) of the interior of Chad. A detailed informative report on the people, customs, tribes, language etc. by an officer with the Colonial Infantry, 1931-32. OCLC notes a holding at the Museum of National History (Paris). 4- LIslam en Afrique Noire Française (A.O.F., A.E.F., Togo, Cameroun). IN: Notes et Etudes Documentaires, No. 1,152, June 26, 1949. 31, [40]pp including wrappers.Report from the La Documentation Française series. 5-Toulgoat, Lieut. Monographe de la Subdivision de Faya. No place, 1920. Folio. 18 pp.; original manuscript, signed at the end. Plain wrappers with manuscript title. (Inventory #: 20139)
French West Africa succumbed to anti-colonial sentiment in 1958. Until that time it represented one of the great colonial occupations of the continent. This vast territory was the domain of the French colonial authority to administer. It remains to this day one of the last "unknowns" on the map of Africa. The reports of Lt Barrere are among the very few primary sources of knowledge regarding indigenous people and cultures in this isolate region. Long a crossing point for Arab traders of the north reaching down to the "gold coast" this empty region harbored ancient trade routes, traditions, and nomadic tribal cultures. WWII shattered that by supporting incursions and far-fetched plans for striking at the German occupation in the northern coastal areas through sub-Saharan corridors. French administration was active prior to the war and a short time thereafter. The archive reflects this gap. The contents are: 1- Fada. 51. Dec. 1951. [ii], 39pp [blue carbon, with some corrections, printed on rectos only] + three original hand-drawn and colored maps [including one showing the distribution of local tribes] + 13 leaves with 42 original photographs tipped on, and with facing (corresponding) typed caption leaves + original wrappers with string tie. Detailed first-hand report from an officer in the French colonial infantry, covering all aspects of this town in Chad, including its history under colonial rule, the economy, the building infrastructure, schools, commerce (e.g., palmeries, camels).The original photographs supplement the text, documenting the landscape surrounding this outpost, the main buildings, as well as its citizens (groups of men, women, and school children) and animals (including camels). 2- La Race Doza Borku. 56 pp., original typescript (first generation), on rectos only + 3 leaves of original illustrations of camels.In contemporary (1950) dossier folder. An anonymous reportbut presumably prepared by Lieut. Barrere-- on the main tribe of Fada, Chad, covering a range of topics relating to this desert trip, includes it origins, customs, relationships with other tribes, its various subunits (organized under specific chefs), and the three pages of illustrations show the specific marks made on camels to denote ownership of under his chef. 3- Louis, Xavier.Documents Sur Les Arabes dAti: Leur Pays et Leur Vie. No place or date, 1937? 42 pp., mimeograph + large folding map (oversize mimeograph(?) from a drawing) of the interior of Chad. A detailed informative report on the people, customs, tribes, language etc. by an officer with the Colonial Infantry, 1931-32. OCLC notes a holding at the Museum of National History (Paris). 4- LIslam en Afrique Noire Française (A.O.F., A.E.F., Togo, Cameroun). IN: Notes et Etudes Documentaires, No. 1,152, June 26, 1949. 31, [40]pp including wrappers.Report from the La Documentation Française series. 5-Toulgoat, Lieut. Monographe de la Subdivision de Faya. No place, 1920. Folio. 18 pp.; original manuscript, signed at the end. Plain wrappers with manuscript title. (Inventory #: 20139)