71 résultats
1951réf. 734561951. Paperback. Good. All appear to be written in 1951 and all were sent to Rev. Campbell MacRae Lewistall who is identified on a slip laid in one of the envelopes as Founder-teacher Blyden-Lewistall Private School at 314 West 133rd Street in New York City. Some letters are worn; all appear to be complete. Most envelopes present some with stamps. Three of the letters were from Philip Nathaniel King headmaster or head teacher of this Methodist-supported elementary school; one is from his wife; two are from his son; and two are from Mr. King's niece who was also a teacher at the school. All of the letters seem designed to establish contact with Rev. Lewistall who is addressed as Uncle. Some including the letters from King's son thank the New York Uncle for gifts such as an air rifle. The letters picture conditions at the school as far from ideal and make it clear that the the Kings were hoping that their "uncle" in America would provide some financial support. paperback
1775réf. 21553Paris 1775. Very good condition. Detailed copper engraved map of Guyana from Cap Nassau down to Cap de Nord. Showing many towns and coastal ports. With decorative cartouche compass rose and rhumb lines. From Prevost's "L'Histoire Generale des Voyages". Bellin 1703 - 1772 one of the most noted French mapmakers of the 18th century was named the hydrographer chief cartographer to the French Navy and later the Official Hydrographer to the French King. Folding 13 x 9 3/4". Strong impression very clean. unknown
1974réf. 84941Georgetown Guyana: Sheik Sadeek 1974. First Edition. Slim octavo 20.25cm; mimeographed sheets stapled into pictorial card wrappers; ii381pp. Inscribed by the author on the title page to Puerto Rican editor translator and literary critic Roberto Marquez: "For my friend R. Marquez / With the compliments of Sheik S. / Hope you find something suitable / 21.8.79" Light wear gentle sunning to spine; Near Fine. Self-published volume by the noted Guyanese poet and author gathering six short works published between 1949-1972 most centered around Guyanese daily life and written in the local patois. A nice association copy inscribed to Marquez who at the time was founder and editor of the journal Caliban: A Journal of New World Thought and Writing. Uncommon; OCLC notes 11 holdings. 84941. Sheik Sadeek unknown
1978réf. 84949Georgetown Guyana: S.i. 1978. First Edition. Octavo 21cm; printed manila card wrappers; text is mimeographed with author's name and title hand-written in ink on the spine; ii78-10414pp. This copy is from the library of to Puerto Rican editor translator and literary critic Roberto Marquez with his ink name and date 8/79 on upper front endpaper. Seymour has inscribed this copy to him and mis-dated it on the half-title page: "For Roberto from AJ / with admiration affection / Aug 5. 1969." This was Marquez's working copy showing numerous passages marked over several readings showing extensive interaction with the text. Wrappers are edgeworn dust-soiled with a few small adhesive marks to same; Very Good. "This is a pioneering literary work. It is a distillation of my personal development as critic and editor in Guyana over several decades and it gathers within two covers what I may describe as a guide to as well as a survey of major forms of creative writing in the Guyana experience" from the preface. 84949. S.i. unknown
réf. 3726649Paris: Imprimerie de Firmin Didot Frères 1842. 14 pages. Pamphlet; removed dbd. without wrappers. Title-leaf with closed diagonal tear near spine fold; good. First edition. A rare 1842 French governmental memorandum addressing conditions in the colonies of Martinique Guadeloupe and Guyane in the Caribbean and Bourbon modern Réunion in the Indian Ocean. The report was issued by a small committee and signed in print by its member representing Martinique the French mathematician and economist Baron Pierre Charles François Dupin 1784–1873. The text opens with a stark assessment of economic distress and structural injustice in the colonial system arguing for equality in tariffs and in the regulation of imports and exports as essential remedies. Relief is sought on the grounds of the colonies’ economic importance within the French imperial system. OCLC two copies both at BnF. unknown
1820réf. 43738London John Murray 1820. Wirhout wrappers as ectracted from "The Quarterly Journal of Science and the Arts. The Royal Institution of Great Britain" vol. VIII a. IX. Pp. 260-287 a. pp. 1-32 a. 1 folded engraved map 20x25 cm. "Map of the Missions of the Caroni". unknown
réf. 29149 March 1930; 'Trent House Main Street Georgetown'. 10 pages on 5 8vo leaves. In good condition but with a few large blots. The first part of a letter by a writer who appears to be English. Straight out of B. Traven. The author wants Joan to join him and Gwen in partnership with Hamerly. 'Hamerly is down here from one of his expeditions & we became friendly through his having lived & travelled widely in the Paraguayan Chaco. He is rather what the Americans call a roughneck but he has a most exhaustive knowledge of South America having done some tremendous journeys right through Brazil has had some extraordinary adventures which he tells amusingly in his broken English . He is like a character in an adventure novel . has made personal friends of all the big men in the mining fields the Venezuala Generals & Colonels &c & also of big Govt officials at Caraccas & he has obtained a concession of very rich gold lands immediately the other side of the frontier which he has not yet had time to work. The terms of his concession permit him to shoot anybody who goes on his land. .' There is 'a small shop at Five Stars run by a Chinaman Che Fat who could make a profit selling at 5 cents per lb cheaper . At Arakaka there is another Chinese store just sold out to Che Fat by Ho Shoo Hamerly is in partnership with Camizoulia wealthy Portugee of Georgetown who sends up the goods he requires . He wants to extend by establishing a permanent store on the frontier & to do that it is necessary to squeeze out the Chinks . I have discussed the proposition with two experienced men & they both agree that the only sound way to do gold mining is to establish it on the basis of a bush store which provides cash to carry on prospecting till creeks with rich pay are found. . If a bush negro comes in with plenty of gold & buys his provisions dirt cheap he feels he has been well treated & is expansive & wants to buy gaudy useless things that attract him & then does not mind how much he pays for it as he is totally without any standard of comparison on which to form an estimate of it's sic value .' More in the same vein on such subjects as gold mining 'in the immediate vicinity of Arekaka'. 9 March 1930; 'Trent House | Main Street | Georgetown'. unknown
1824réf. 54352Amsterdam Gerard Hulst van Keulen 1824. Contemp. hcloth. Stamp on title-page. IV251 pp. A few scattered brownspots. hardcover
1932réf. HALL510223Paperback. 1932. 44 to 224pp plates & maps card covers London 1932-1961. Very good ex-library copies. . paperback
réf. #[13617]Amsterdam Isaac Tirion ca. 1760. Engraved map contemporary coloured by hand with a large inset plan of the fortified town and castle to the upper right corner. Ca. 39 x 43 cm. A fine detailed map of Cayenne with many locations identified per key: sugar and coffee works indigo plantations the locations of native villages and a farmstead. An inset plan depicts the plan of the city with the cathedral parade ground Jesuit college hospital and the fortress. The region was not colonized until 1604 when the French founded their first settlement. It was soon destroyed by the Portuguese but the French colonists returned in 1643 and founded Cayenne. They were forced to leave once more following the attacks by the local Indigenous population. In 1664 France finally established a permanent settlement at Cayenne. Over the next decade the colony changed hands between the French Dutch 1658-1664 and 1676 and English before being restored to France. It was used as a French penal colony from 1854 to 1938. Koeman AN III Tir4. unknown
1925réf. 810841925. Manuscript report on on the recto sides only of 15pp of lined notepaper to the secretaries of a combined mining venture based out of Number 8 Old Jewry London. A few small dogears and creases some age toning of the paper and the fact that it's written in pencil make it a little tricky to decipher at times although a partial transcript is included from a previous collector. A very good A hand-written preliminary report which nevertheless contains a wealth of logistical and local detail regarding the business of pitching camp supply lines sickness boring results and assay findings depths propected gravel assessments depth of survey records etc. Comments regarding the local labor supply place the whole exploit firmly into the realm of exploitation with phrasing like ".the riff-raff of coastal negroes who are unstable - lazy and contemptuous of authority." A fascinating and ephemeral piece of industrial colonial history. Wray himself seems to have been a widely traveled mining surveyor with some of his recorded work being not only across Africa but also the Koorboora mining region of Queensland Australia among others. unknown
réf. 10091Trent House Main Street Georgetown British Guiana 10 June 1947. One page folio fold marks good condition. She has approached Dingwall as someone who could help make conditions in British Guiana better known in England. She refers to the enclosure of "Resolutions" from public meetings identifying herself as the wife of a King's Counsel "who has acted as a judge on the Supreme Court Bench of this Colony." They need help to take on the merchants who are standing in the way of improving the standard of living. "The extreme poverty of the working classes of this Colony makes it imperative that steps be taken to bring down the cost of living . . ." She notes that copies of the enclosures have been sent to Dr Edith Summerskill Quintin Hogg The Secretary of the Colonial Fabian Society F.A. Fulfordof the Editorial Staff The Catholic Herald. Accompanied by15 typewritten pages folio comprising Resolutions formed at public meetings: Resolution I four pages refers to '"blackmarket and corrupt" practices of a large section of the Mercantile Community "some of whom are members of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce." She then covers the supply of basic foodstuffs flour split peas salted butter salt fish condensed milk and the effects of corrupt practices on various trades and others resolving that the "unfair monopoly" should be removed and action taken against the culprits. Resolution 2 2pp. outlines circumstances forced on the colony by war exigencies seven years of black marketing and hoarding etc. resolving that an Officer to support a Committee should be appointed to represent consumers. Resolution 3 making statements which lead to the resolution that an enquiry should be made into the cost of living that quota restrictions should be removed or a new quota system put in place and current quotas investigated. With: seven pages last one damaged with some loss of text of copy correspondence including documentation of business being stifled by corruption and an analysis of price rises on essential foodstuffs clothing and soap between 1938 and 1947 including comments on the black market etc. Trent House, Main Street, Georgetown, B[ritish] G[uiana], 10 June 1947. hardcover
réf. 26080The Times and the Globe London. Four letters by 'NIGER' to the Globe dated 29 and 30 January 9 February and 2 March 1850. Four letters to The Times two apiece from 'NIGER' and 'JACOB OMNIUM' dated in October and November 1850. A contemporary manuscript note to the present item reveals for the first time the identity of ‘Niger’ one of the two correspondents of whose letters it consists. And minor manuscript corrections to the last of the four letters would seem to suggest the involvement of the author. This is Sir James Robert Carmichael 1817-1883 2nd Bart who was intimately connected with British Guiana through his father Sir James Carmichael-Smyth 1779-1838. Having served from 1829 as governor of the Bahamas where he abolished the flogging of female slaves Carmichael-Smyth had been appointed governor of British Guiana in June 1833. According to Carmichael-Smyth’s entry in the Oxford DNB he ‘arrived at Georgetown Demerara shortly before the emancipation of slaves when much depended on the governor. Unmoved by the reckless hostility of a section of the planters Carmichael-Smyth by a firm impartial and vigorous government won the confidence of the slaves. He so closely supervised every department of government that as he himself observed he could sleep satisfied that no person could be punished without his knowledge and sanction. Carmichael-Smyth died suddenly at Camp House Georgetown Demerara of ‘brain fever’ after four days’ illness on 4 March 1838; he was widely esteemed and his death much regretted.’ The other correspondent ‘Jacob Omnium’ is Thackeray’s friend Matthew James Higgins 1810-1868 whose entry in the Oxford DNB states: ‘In 1838–9 he visited British Guiana where he later inherited the Alliance estate after the death of his mother and repeated the visit in 1846–7. This experience enabled him to keep his estate in good order during the critical period which followed the abolition of slavery and to put the case for the West India planters in defence of the protective sugar duties. He wrote four effective pamphlets upon the difficulties of the sugar-producing colonies in 1847 and 1849.’ The material consists of eight long letters in small print to the Globe and The Times laid down on nine foolscap 8vo pages over six leaves extracted from an album. The total length of text in 7-inch wide columns is 430 cm. In good condition lightly aged and worn on worn leaves. The first four letters from ‘Niger’ to the editor of the London newspaper the Globe are on the subject of ‘British Guiana and Governor Barkly’. These four are dated 29 and 30 January 9 February and 2 March 1850. ‘NIGER’ is identified in a contemporary hand at the end of the first letter as ‘Sir J R Carmichael’. The last four letters are an somewhat intemperate exchange in The Times of two letters apiece between ‘NIGER’ writing from London on 30 October headed ‘A WORD TO WEST INDIA PROPRIETORS’ and 12 November and ‘JACOB OMNIUM’ writing from Lombard Street on 10 and 16 November. At the start of the first of his letters to the Globe Carmichael states his position: ‘Mr Barkly has earned so high a reputation among men of all parties both in his late position in Parliament and in the discharge of his present arduous functions in Guiana that he may well afford to despise the bitter revilings of disappointed faction; but the article in question contains allegations so unfair ungenerous and unscrupulous in their nature that I consider the public should be made acquainted with the true state of the case at issue between the Morning Chronicle and the Governor of Guiana.’ This he proceeds to do presenting a mass of detail including some taken from ‘the lastest accounts’ he has received from ‘the West India mail’. In the first of his letters to The Times Carmichael discusses ‘the treatment the unfortunate race of Africa hae met with at the hands of the white man’: ‘I have known a slave to be destroyed by torture and a fine inflicted on the overseer as a punishment; but these thank God are tales of a bigone day. My only object in alluding to them is to point out to the West India proprietors that they have been guilty of a great and sad dereliction of duty of which they are now reaping the unavoidable punishment. They have treated the colonies as hotbeds from whence to forcec money into their pockets; they have forgotten what they owed to those whose toil supplied their wants and luxuries’. Higgins responds: ‘All that “Niger” says concerning the unhappy fate of the slaves in the British West Indies in bygone days may for all I know be most accurate. I cannot however divine why he has reverted to it. . Without disputing the accuracy of his picture of West Indian cruelty and West Indian mismanagement under the obsolete system of slavery I submit that it is . unfair and irrelevant to endeavour to introduce it into the present question between Lord John Russell and the free-labour sugar-growers’. In his last letter Higgins complains: ‘Your correspondent “Niger” preserves a great advantage over me. He well knows who I am the nature of my connexion with the colonies and the habits of my family and he very skilfully and I think somewhat unhandsomely turns the minutest points of that knowledge to his advantage whilst he carefully preserves his own incognito affording me no clue whereby I may infer what manner of man my assailant is.’ While acknowledging ‘Niger’ to be ‘a very able partisan’ Higgins concludes by accusing him of ‘doing his best to throw dust in the eyes of the British nation’. See Scan. I've yet to find an example of Carmichael-Smyth's handwriting to make a judgment on the signature. The setting out of the articles suggests a personal interest even file copy. The Times and the Globe, London. Four letters by 'NIGER' to the Globe dated 29 and 30 January, 9 February and 2 March 1850. Fou unknown
1799réf. 30444Londres no printer 1799. Near cont. hcloth. A little rubbed. 6IV183 pp. Engraved portrait of Barthelemy. Halftitle and portrait loose. Halftitle soiled and browned. Large copy but slightly browned. At end a part of another work withbound. There exists different print bearing the same year 1799 A second edition was issued also in 1799. - Sabin: 67627. hardcover
1799réf. 311123London: printed for J. Wright 1799. First English edition. 4 215 pp. 8vo. Contemporary sprinkled calf morocco spine label lettered in gilt. Some rubbing to binding small split to front joint minor marginal worming at beginning. First English edition. 4 215 pp. 8vo. Narrative of the exile of several French revolutionaries to the penal colony of Cayenne in Guiana giving account of travel in the colony and of the voyage residence and escape. Sabin 67630 printed for J. Wright unknown
réf. 20663No place. Three of the signatures are dated from January 1932 the other two are undated. The five signatories are: Sir Alfred Claud Hollis 1874-1962 Governor of Trinidad and Tobago 1930-1936 and author of a historical account of Spanish Trinidad; his wife Enid Mabel Hollis née Longman Lady Hollis 1888-1939; Sir Edward Brandis Denham 1876-1938 Governor of British Guiana 1930–1935 and Jamaica 1935–1938; Sir Thomas Reginald St Johnston 1881-1950 Governor of the Leeward Islands 1929-1936; Sir William Charles Fleming Robertson 1867-1937 Governor of Barbados 1925-1932. On one side of a 13.5 x 16.5 cm leaf of cream paper torn from an autograph album. In good condition lightly aged. Three of the governors have signed in a column towards the centre of the page: 'Claud Hollis Governor Trinidad 17.1.32 Edward . Denham . Govr. British Guiana. 26.1.32. Reginald St. Johnston. Govr. Leeward Islands.' Hollis's wife has signed to the right of her husband's signature in the top right-hand corner: 'Enid Hollis' and beneath her signature in an extremely close hand is the signature of 'W. C. F Robertson. Govenor Barbados 31.1.32'. No place. Three of the signatures are dated from January 1932, the other two are undated. unknown
réf. 346FRENCH GUIANA. BARRÈRE Pierre Essai sur l'histoire naturelle de la France équinoxiale ou Dénombrement des Plantes des Animaux & des Minéraux qui se trouvent dans l'Isle de Cayenne les Isles de Remire sur les Côtes de la Mer & dans le Continent de la Guyane Paris Piget 1741. 8° XXIV 216 pages 4 leaves ; contemporary calf. The first monograph on French Guiana's natural history First edition ; one of the scarce large paper copies mentioned by Sabin. Pierre Barrère 1690-1755 was a French physician and botanist from Perpignan. His thesis on the medical uses of botany attracted the attention of Antoine de Jussieu who put forward his name to the French regent Philippe d'Orléans. He was sent to French Guiana "France équinoxiale " as the King's physician and botanist in Cayenne from 1722 to 1725 to look for medecinal plants. During his stay in the colony he collected plants roots fruits and seeds as well as rocks and minerals which were incorporated into Jussieu's herbarium. After an epidemic of yellow fever he returned to France where in 1741 he published this work on the natural history of Cayenne and Remire in which he compiled a very complete alphabetical list of the plants of this part of the world - he referred to the nomenclature of Tournefort and Plumier - as well as the fauna and minerals. This book was followed by another entitled Nouvelle Relation de la France équinoxale in 1743. Provenance: Jean-Baptiste Benoît Eyriès 1767-1846 geographer printer/editor and slave trader printed bookplate; Rémi Valdemar Chardey 1813-1900 collector from Le Havre who purchased part of the former's library at its posthumous sale. Pritzel 425; Sabin 3603; Leclerc 1511: "This work is more difficult to find than the Relation de la France Equinoxiale by the same author."
1837réf. 2252821837. Watercolor on paper. 19 x 26 cm. 7-1/2 x 10-1/4 inches. Matted. Watercolor on paper. 19 x 26 cm. 7-1/2 x 10-1/4 inches. Adriaan David van der Gon Netscher was a member of the Netscher family a Dutch military family that traces its heritage back to the 1600s. Adriaan David was a naval officer honorably discharged in 1848 and a member of the Court of Police in British Guyana where he painted this striking little watercolor of the Public Building. unknown
1828réf. 30792A Cayenne: L'Imprimerie du Gouvernement 1828. Cayenne Imprint A collection of proposed French administrative documents concerning the establishment of a mortgage and loan office in French Guiana. The various articles are geared toward liberal loan regulations to encourage agricultural development including the allowance of slaves as collateral. Since the restoration of the region to French authority in 1817 via the Treaty of Vienna the promotion of an agrarian economy was a primary concern though the subsequent designation of Cayenne as a penal colony significantly reduced the territory's appeal. Like most Cayenne imprints of this era the present document is quite rare. Not on OCLC. Quarto. Contemporary plain wrappers. Internally clean and bright. Near fine. unknown
réf. PB4359 loose original gelatin silver photographs five photos identical from ca. 88x144 cm 3 ½ x 5 ¾ in to ca. 87x125 cm 3 ¼ x 5 in. Three photos with period pencil captions in English on the verso. Most photos with stamped negative numbers and/or the “Velox” manufacturer’s mark on the verso; with accompanying manuscript index indicating captions to the photographs 1-82; 101-163. 5 pp. of text. Ca. 316x20 cm 12 ¼ x 8 in. Black ink on yellowish lined paper. Three photos lack small fragments at the corners accompanying index with fold marks one page with small tears at the lower left corner but otherwise a very good collection. Historically important collection of 59 original photographs taken by an American field technician during a six-month resource survey expedition for a New York mining syndicate in the Guianas in 1925. By the 1920s gold mining along the Lawa River borderlands between French and Dutch Guiana present-day Suriname had shifted from the gold rushes of the late nineteenth century to more organized syndicate-financed exploration. As easily accessible surface deposits along tributaries such as Crique Eau Claire were exhausted foreign mining companies introduced systematic survey methods to assess deeper placer deposits. Many of these ventures however proved short-lived because of harsh rainforest conditions and high logistical costs. As follows from the accompanying index the expedition lasted from December 1924 to June 1925. The party first traveled through Grenada and Trinidad before proceeding into the interior of Dutch Guiana and crossing into neighboring French Guiana in January. Its members operated mainly along the Lawa River and its tributary creeks carrying out test drilling timber cutting and placer gold mining. The principal mining activity appears to have been concentrated on the French Guiana side of the border namely along Crique Eau Claire and Crique Rufin while smaller outposts along the Lawa River managed transport and supplies. Among the identified members of the expedition is Fred C. Runckel a driller from Dutch Flat who according to both the index and a 1925 article in the Union sailed for home in April. The compiler appears to have been among the last members of the expedition to remain in the Guianas staying there at least until June and visiting among other places the French penal settlement at Saint-Jean. The collection contains fifty-nine original gelatin silver photographs taken during the expedition between December 1924 and June 1925. Although the accompanying master log lists 163 indexed photographs from the journey only part of the series appears to have been printed or preserved. Furthermore matching individual prints to specific index entries remains difficult due to unnumbered photos. About fifteen lively vernacular photographs likely depict Maroon inhabitants of the Guiana interior most probably Youcas poling long canoes navigating river rapids hunting along the Lawa River etc. At least five candid scenes portray native laborers unloading cargo from boats on the Lawa River while expedition members stand on the shore amid wooden crates hampers and heavy field equipment. Especially interesting are more than fifteen well-executed photos of the New York Syndicate’s gold mining operations likely taken near Rufin Creek and Eau Claire Creek at Revanche Camp in French Guiana. The images show local workers digging open-cut trenches erecting timber flume lines and managing placer mining equipment under the supervision of the syndicate's field engineers. The rest of the photos mostly portray San Fernando in Trinidad Port of Spain; Queen St. with signs “W. S. Robertson & Co.” and “Colonial Bank” “Indians of the Tumuc-Humac Mountains in Brazilian Guiana” landscapes and unidentified street views buildings trams and pedestrians. The collection also contains one photograph apparently taken after the expedition. The image shows open-cut nitrate mining in Chile and an electric mine locomotive operated by the Anglo-Chilean Consolidated Nitrate Corporation for which the compiler appears to have later worked. Overall historically important collection of 59 original gelatin silver photographs taken by an American field technician during a six-month resource survey expedition for a New York mining syndicate in the Guianas in 1925. unknown
1840réf. 66308Various places in French Guiana and the West Indies as described below. 1840-1876. 19th-Century Watercolors of French Guiana and the West Indies A volume of exceptionally detailed and accomplished ink and watercolor illustrations of landscapes and animal life in French Guiana and its environs in the 1850s as well as landscapes of the West Indies from the same period. These illustrations provide excellent representations of the people and places of Cayenne and the surrounding region showing streetscapes canal scenes military establishments residential neighborhoods homes the flora fauna insects and inhabitants of the region. Several show men women and children of African descent at work and at rest. At least two of these images are dated 1840 eight years before the end of slavery in French Guiana and likely depict enslaved men and women. This volume appears to have been created by Jean Louis Marie Hippolyte de Saint-Quentin 1814-1902 who was the primary assessor of real estate for French Guiana and a valued advisor to successive governors of the colony. In gratitude for his services in 1869 he was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor – the highest decoration that France can bestow on one of its citizens. In addition to his abilities as a government administrator Saint-Quentin was also an artist noted for his jailhouse portrait of D'Chimbo a famous Guianese bandit – created just prior to D'Chimbo's execution by guillotine in 1862. Saint-Quentin later gifted the portrait to the Musée Alexandre-Franconie in Cayenne. This volume of ink and watercolor illustrations and pencil sketches begins with a contemporary photograph of the artist with the following penciled manuscript notation in French: "Ne a Cayenne Ghyana Francaise en 1800 fils de Narcisse Edouard Isdore de Saint Quentin et de Louise Elisabeth-Victoire d'Audiffredy" "Born in Cayenne French Guiana in 1800 son of Narcisse Edouard Isdore de Saint Quentin and Louise Elisabeth-Victoire d'Audiffredy". Narcisse and Louise came from established Creole families based in Cayenne from the 18th century and had five sons of whom only Jean Louis Marie Hippolyte has been identified as an accomplished artist. It should be noted that the historical record differs from the penciled manuscript notation for Jean de Saint-Quentin's date and place of birth: Jean was born in 1814 in Paris rather than 1800 in Cayenne. At the time Jean's parents had moved back to France for a short period when Portugal had captured Guiana but returned to Cayenne within the decade. The photographic portrait dated 1860 at the beginning of the sketchbook shows a man of middle age and Jean de Saint-Quentin would have been forty-six years old at the time. The illustrations in this volume are dated between 1840 and 1876 mostly the 1850s and show the people places and wildlife of French Guiana a century after its initial colonization by the French as well as views of the islands of the West Indies that Saint-Quentin likely created while travelling in the Caribbean. Many of the landscapes include well-known landmarks making them visually comparable to many of the same places today. His remarkably detailed natural history drawings of the animals he encountered in the jungles of French Guiana give the modern viewer a glimpse of some of the species present prior to the time of modern development and habitat destruction. De Saint-Quentin had an eye for architecture and produced precise drawings characterized by rich detail depth realistic color and meticulous presentation. Of the forty-four works in this sketchbook eighteen are pen and watercolor landscapes or views of towns and estates nine are complete or incomplete pencil sketches eight are images of animal life in the Cayenne region three are watercolor sketches three are pencil sketches with a sepia wash and three are contemporary photographs. Following Saint-Quentin's portrait are views of Cayenne French Guiana and their surrounds which start with the landscapes he found right outside his bedroom windows along the Canal Laussat in the center of Cayenne. These are detailed suburban views peopled with locals walking on the canal towpaths – some just enjoying the day while others are hard at work carrying goods atop their heads with one painting showing a soldier in full uniform walking along a street next to a civilian woman. Men are netting fish in the canal while others are punting a flatboat filled with goods along the canal. The backgrounds are full of varied architectural interest with detailed views of the wooden homes and outbuildings of de Saint-Quentin's neighbors as well as a barracks for workers. Other Cayenne views include a street scene with workers paddling a boat while two officers converse with a civilian a view of a military parade ground with a group of men likely recruits being spoken to by an officer a soldier nodding off by the guard house and a worker leading horses nearby. These initial paintings are quite finished with wonderful detail rich color and beautiful depth. The sketchbook continues with a series of views of beaches towns and the jungle including the Kourou coastline with an early settlement the village of Roura surrounded by the jungle on a promontory in the Comte estuary and a wonderful view of men paddling a flatboat along a river through the forests of the Amazon. Following these expansive views of locations near Cayenne de Saint-Quentin focuses his lens to create a series of natural history portraits of the fauna native to the French Guianese portion of the Amazon rainforest including a half-size view of a miniature deer native to the region a full-scale detailed view of a forest tarantula a beautifully colored jungle moth detailed sketches of unusual reptiles and a magnificent and very detailed full-size view of a jungle phasmid one of the largest known species of Amazonian insect. These drawings of native fauna are followed by a sepia view of a home in a jungle clearing with a woman her children and a servant in the yard in front of the house. A series of watercolor and pencil sketches of islands in the West Indies follows starting with a distant view of St. Martin St. Eustatius Saba St. Barthélemy and St. Kitts followed by a two-page illustration of a military installation at the Demerara River in Guyana. Following this are several other views around the Caribbean and Lesser Antilles including a lovely detailed view of the settlement at Barbados a series of unfinished pencil sketches of St. Lucia Dominique and Antigua and a mostly-finished watercolor sketch of St. Thomas. Several more illustrations of French Guiana follow including a view of a plantation in Macouria a delightful close-up of the home of the butcher in Conamama showing two men taking their ease on its front porch as well as an expansive view of a hilltop chalet in Kourou. A mounted contemporary photographic reproduction of an original panoramic photograph of the Penal Colony of St-Laurent-du-Maroni precedes a meticulous watercolor view of the Oyapok River estuary and jungle along its shore. One final natural history painting of a tame parakeet is followed by a pencil and sepia watercolor sketch of Antibes France dated August 1868 from the Mediterranean washed with sepia watercolor. The penultimate leaf of the sketchbook has a mounted contemporary photograph of part human part fish "monstrosity" found in the South Pacific Island of New Caledonia with the final leaf containing a painting of a person walking along a jungle shore between two palms making a very suitable end to the collection. A full list of illustrations follows: 1 Photographic portrait of the artist dated 1860. Portrays a man of middle age in a makeshift photography studio composed of a sheet hung on a line in front of a picket fence; he is holding a cane and cap in his left hand standing beside a chair with his right hand in his coat pocket and his left on the top of the chair. 2 "Le Pont Laussal Panorama autour de ma chambre Cayenne le 30 8bre 1853." A watercolor and ink cityscape of Cayenne along the Canal Laussat with what likely is a small portion of the artist's fenced yard in the immediate foreground the canal in the middle ground with its punts foot bridge and towpaths on either side populated with a horse-drawn wagon foot traffic and a pair of men netting for fish; more homes and the hills surrounding Cayenne are in the background. 3 "L'Etablissement Jambe Panorama autour de ma chambre Cayenne le 3 9bre 1853." Another cityscape along the Canal Laussat at the intersection of a street with one of the towpaths. Across the canal is a fenced yard with a barracks with men loitering in front of it and an open barn. The towpath closest to the viewer has a woman with a parasol and two Africans walking along it; there are three men in a punt plying the canal waters with more homes and the hills around Cayenne in the background. 4 "Les Cases Houget et Bouté Panorama autour de ma chambre Cayenne le 9 9bre 1853." A cityscape with a street in the foreground; a soldier and a woman of at least partial African descent with a colorful dress and kerchief with a large pot balanced on her head walking along a tall wooden fence that fronts the road; an elaborate two-story house and its barn inside the fence and more houses and palm trees in the background. 5 "Vue sur le Parc du Génie Panorama autour de ma chambre 18.9.bre 1853." A streetscape at the crossing of two large roads in a military yard; two officers in uniform speak with a civilian in the street between a house with a small palm in front of it and its barn while on the cross street a group of thirteen civilians drag a large flatboat that has been placed on wheels; there is a well and barracks on the far side of the street and the rooftops of buildings in the background. 6 Unfinished portrait of an elegant African or Creole gentleman in a waistcoat and jacket. 7 "2e Vue sur le Parc du Génie Panorama autour de ma chambre 18 9bre 1853." This second view of the military yard has a crowd of civilians and military personnel standing and listening to a gesticulating officer while a soldier sits at the gate watching the proceedings. A man leading two horses and a gentleman pushing a wheelbarrow are to the right foreground while houses rooftops and ship's masts form the background. 8 "Larivot La Pointe Tangui 9bre 1853 D'áprēs Dupuy." A small view of an area in near Larivot Harbor in Cayenne French Guiana called Tangui Point showing two houses and palm trees on a clearing near the shore with a sloop and a flatboat plying the waters of the North Atlantic in the foreground. 9 "Souvenir de Kourou 2.9.bre 1840." A colorful view of the Kourou coastline with what appears to be the Atlantic in the foreground and a sloop flying French colors. On land are an elaborate two-story house with palm trees to its rear and an outbuilding and two thatched cottages nearby; the background is composed of mountains forest and sky. 10 Unfinished painting of the marble bust of a man. 11 "Roura 31 Xbre1853." A landscape of the village of Roura along the Atlantic coast. The village consists of a church with a steeple and two nearby houses as well as a house along the shore some distance away. A skiff plies the water of the Comte River estuary; the background is of forested hills and a grey cloudy sky. 12 "Caria cou Petite Gazelle de la Guyane dessineé d'aprés nature ½ Grandeur Tibourou 2 Janvier 1854." A half-size profile view of the head of what is likely a Red Brocket Deer Mazama americana a petite deer that is only two-and-a half feet high at the shoulder that is native to the forests surrounding Cayenne. This specimen was likely observed near Crique Tibourou just southwest of Cayenne. 13 "illegible 2 Janvier 1854." A scene of four men and a dog in a flatboat on a river that fronts the rain forest. Some trees in detail are to the right with three dead trees that fell from the forest into the water near shore. 14 "Araignée-crabe male Grandeur naturelle 5 Janvier 1854." A full scale detailed drawing of what is likely a Pinktoe Tarantula Avicularia avicularia a tree-dwelling spider found throughout the rainforests of French Guiana. 15 "Tibourou 5 Janvier 1854 Grandeur naturelle." A full-scale representation of two snakes observed near Crique Tibourou just southwest of Cayenne. The gray and black snake could not be identified while the red and black snake is likely the Tropical Flat Snake Siphlophis compressus. 16 "Cayenne 20 aoūt 1854." A colorful and detailed drawing of a moth with a blue-green abdomen and thorax blue-green forewings and blue hindwings lined in yellow with a red spot. We are unable to identify the genus and species of this insect. 17 A group of two unidentified reptiles one drawn in great detail while the other is an unfinished sketch; an unidentified black insect and an unidentified brown pupa. 18 "Débris d'un Phasme Géant Grandeur naturelle." A full-scale drawing of the remains of an insect likely in the Order Phasmida walkingsticks. As this specimen is even larger than French Guiana's titan beetle Titanus giganteus which is considered one of the largest insects in the world if this insect has yet to be classified it would be an important addition to entomologic studies of French Guiana. 19 "habitation Par Force aux Cascades 25 7bre 1854." A detailed drawing colored in sepia of a two-story wood-framed house within a forest clearing showing women and children of African descent. In the foreground there is a woman walking through the clearing holding the hand of a child while looking at another child that has strayed to her left and another woman in an apron toward the center of the clearing holding a pot on her head. 20 "libourou de Versailles libourou de Cayenne." A mostly-finished drawing of two dogs with a domesticated dog on the right labeled "libourou de Versailles" while the seemingly feral growling dog on the left with a curled tail is labeled "libourou de Cayenne." 21 "Partie Nord de St. Christophe 29 mai 1857." A two-sheet drawing of the northern shore of the West Indies island of Saint Christopher St. Kitts with a view of what is likely Brimstone Hill Fortress in the right foreground and small distant inset views with the captions "St. Martin" "St. Eustache" "Saba" and "St. Barthélémy" on the upper left of the lefthand sheet. 22 Unfinished pencil drawing of a landscape featuring a four-story home. 23 "Acouchis." A drawing of what are likely two red Acouchi Myoprocta acouchy which are herbivore rodents found in the rain forests of French Guiana. The drawing of the acouchis are on three pieces of blue paper that have been adhered along the bottom edge of a page in the sketchbook containing a collection of pencil sketches that include a woman in a gown multiple drawings of faces and a soldier with a sword. 24 "Démérari les Casernes et le Phare 24 mai 1857." A lovely two-sheet landscape of the Georgetown light house and the surrounding military barracks where Guyana's Demerara River meets the Atlantic. The landscape includes the lighthouse and residential buildings on the right page while military barracks occupy the coast drawn on the left page. 25 "Vue prise á la Barbade 27 mai 1857." A landscape of coastal Barbados including what is likely the British diplomatic mission there as well as surrounding homes with a background of empty dunes. 26 An unfinished pencil sketch for a maritime landscape with an island and skiff. 27 An unfinished pencil sketch of homes in the forest. 28 "St. Lucia Le Carénage." An initial unfinished pencil sketch of the capital city of St. Lucia initially called Le Carénage "safe anchorage" and now known as Castries. 29 "indecipherable á St. Lucia." An unfinished pencil sketch of a city or military emplacement on the top of a hill in St. Lucia – possibly Fort Charlotte on Morne Fortune. 30 "Dominique rue indecipherable an Roseau 28 mai likely 1857." An unfinished pencil sketch of view of the capital city of Roseau on the island of Dominique Dominica from the water clearly showing Église de Notre-Dame du Bon Port du Mouillage de Roseau now known as The Cathedral of Our Lady of Fair Haven of Roseau or simply Roseau Cathedral surrounded by city buildings. 31 An unfinished pencil sketch for a maritime landscape with an island and ketch with inset sketches of the islands of Saba and St. Martin. 32 "Antigua 29 mai 57." An unfinished pencil sketch of the west coast of Antigua clearly showing Fort Barrington and Antigua's capitol city of St. Johns St. John's Harbor. 33 "St. Thomas." A mostly-finished watercolor and ink painting of the city of Charlotte Amalie on the south shore of the island of St. Thomas clearly showing Skytsborg Tower now known as "Blackbeard's Castle". 34 "Guyane Quarters sous le Vent Habitation Vigué á Macouria 8bre 1840." A detailed watercolor and ink drawing of an elaborate wooden house and its outbuildings in Macouria French Guiana located between Cayenne and Kourou. The image shows a man standing on the porch of the house and a man and woman conversing in the clearing in front of the house all three of them apparently of African descent. 35 "Habitation Leboucher á Conamama Guyane – quartiers sous le vent 29 8bre 1840." An attractive and colorful ink and watercolor of the home of the butcher of Conamama French Guiana showing a view of the home's porch yard and a small outbuilding. A man of African descent leans against the wall of the house to one side of the front door wearing a tall hat and smoking a pipe while another lies comfortably on the porch with his knees up. There are pieces of pottery on the porch railing a basket on the floor of the porch and a rifle leaning against the railing. The yard is fenced with a gate; there is a view of a coconut palm behind the outbuilding and trees beyond. 36 "Guyane – Quartiers Sous-le-Vent Habitation Pariacabo á Kourou." A detailed painting of wooden houses perched on the hills overlooking Pariacabo Harbor in Kourou French Guiana. The view shows a wooden house with a surrounding porch perched on top of a forested hill with a path curving up the hill to the house's front yard. Another two dwellings are located on lower ground and there is a background of more forested hills. 37 "Guyane Francaise Etablissement pénitentiaire de Saint Louis indecipherable sur le Maroni en 186 parle capitaine F. Ronmy." A contemporary print of an original three-image panoramic photograph of the Penal Colony of St-Laurent-du-Maroni likely taken by Thomas Ferdinand Ronmy n.d. a Captain of Military Engineering in French Guiana during the 19th century. The three photographic prints together measure 2 x 6¼ inches. 38 "Guyane - quartiers au vent Entrée de l'Oyapock." A view of the Oyapok River Estuary south of Cayenne looking toward Oyapok Bay just off the North Atlantic. To the left of the view is a jungled shore and to the middle and right is the river with a steam-powered sloop approaching the viewer with its sails furled. 39 "9 fevrier 1876." A colorful mostly-finished painting of what is possibly a Golden-Capped Conure Aratinga auricapillus sitting on the back of a tall chair. This parakeet is native to the tropical forests of Brazil Colombia Ecuador French Guiana Guyana Peru Suriname and Venezuela. 40 A small sketch of a village in a jungle clearing along the banks of either a river or the ocean on a 2½ x 5-inch slip of paper laid into the sketchbook. 41 "Souvenir du Capo d'antibes 10 aoūt 1863." A pencil and sepia view of the peninsula at Antibes France from the Mediterranean with the Garoupe lighthouse clearly visible at the top of the peninsula; there are dwellings around the lighthouse and scattered down the peninsula. 42 A small unfinished pencil sketch of what looks to be military emplacement. 43 ".du Chateau d"Antibes avec…." An unfinished pencil and sepia view from the Mediterranean of a chateau tucked away into the hills of the Antibes France. 44 "Monstre de la nouvelle caledunie. Photographe en 1866." A carte-de-visite-sized photograph of a fish body with humanoid thorax arms and head with a pencil caption identifying it as from the islands of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. These creatures are commonly referred to as a "Fiji Mermaid" a sort of invented curiosity that was sold to European sailors in Southeast Asian ports through the 18th and 19th centuries. They are usually a desiccated or taxidermized chimera of a fish and a small primate but were believed to be real infant mermaids. Several examples survive in well-known Wunderkammers including the Enlightenment Room at the British Museum. George Cruikshank made an engraving of one that was exhibited in a London coffee house in 1822. They were also a feature of P.T. Barnum's shows etc. 45 Watercolor sketch of a person holding a stick walking up from a beach toward higher land with palm trees and vegetation. A splendid collection of mid-19th-century illustrations of the people places and wildlife of French Guiana and the Caribbean by Jean Louis Marie Hippolyte de Saint-Quentin conveying the artist's admiration of the people and landscapes of French Guiana and its neighboring regions as well as his fascination and wonder at the beauty and diversity of nature found just outside his door. Oblong quarto. Contemporary half sheep and textured paper manuscript title on front board. Boards soiled rubbed and edge worn; front joint split but still attached by cords. Light intermittent soiling and staining to pages occasional adhesive residue faint scattered foxing. Moderate closed tears to margins of a few pages open tear to margin of one page with no loss to illustrations. Illustrations quite clean colors bright and vivid. Very good. In a half morocco clamshell case spine gilt. hardcover
