This slim but exceptionally rich book, published in French and English, presents the fruits of years of meticulous research and analysis by Gérard Chouin on the fascinating topic of French commercial and military schemes on the West African coast during the reign of Louis XIV (seventeenth century). Chouin traces the origins of an “anonymous” travel account and not only solves the mystery of its author’s identity but also uncovers a second account of the same voyage. He artfully compares these two texts in ways that enrich our understanding of West African and French history and offer valuable insights into the very different content and orientation of travel accounts written for publication versus those intended solely for internal government use. Chouin’s careful analysis of the two texts as distinct types of primary sources--travel account versus unpublished manuscript—makes the book ideal for teaching historical methods.
Chouin first examined these texts in a 2004 article in the journal History in Africa (in English), where he described the historical context of French maritime activity in West Africa in the seventeenth century. Much of that article is summarized in the Introduction to Colbert et la Guinée (in French only). As Chouin explains, the history of French trade on the West African coast has been sorely neglected, owing to the scarcity of documentary evidence and its dispersal among numerous libraries and archives. French vessels sailed to what was then known as the Guinea coast from as early as the 1530s. But it was Jean Baptist Colbert, the renowned Minister of Louis XIV, who initiated direct involvement by the French state in the Guinea trade. Colbert took charge of the French Navy, colonies and maritime trade in 1661 and envisioned greater French participation in the gold trade from West Africa as a means of boosting the development of France’s colonies in the Caribbean. The immediate obstacle to this plan was the strong Dutch presence, which included several stone fortifications along the so-called Gold Coast of Guinea.
The main body of Chouin’s book (36-90) consists of two original accounts of the voyage of the man-of-war Tourbillon which was sent by Colbert to assess the Dutch holdings on the West African coast and provide intelligence to facilitate a French takeover of the gold trade. The Tourbillon sailed from Senegal to Ghana and then São Tomé between November 1670 and February 1671 under the command of Captain Louis de Hally. The best-known account of this voyage was published anonymously in 1674 as part of a collection of travel accounts marketed to the Parisian intelligentsia who were increasingly interested in distant and exotic parts of the world. Chouin reveals that the author of this account was an officer aboard the Tourbillon named Louis Ancelin de Gémozac. His official charge for the voyage was to identify places suitable for constructing French trading posts, to assess the strength of the Dutch fortifications, and to secretly sketch the plans of the existing forts to facilitate a planned military takeover of the Dutch trade. In addition to his official report, de Gémozac also produced the “anonymous” account for publication.
De Gémozac’s account reveals much more about the historical moment in which it was created when it is compared to the unpublished account written by the ship’s captain, de Hally. Chouin reveals vast differences in the content and language of the two accounts, particularly regarding the ways in which Africa and Africans are described. When de Gémozac’s narrative is compared to de Hally’s, we see precisely how authors of travel accounts altered and augmented their texts when preparing them for a popular audience in Europe. While de Hally focused strictly on the observable conditions of the Gold Coast and the possibilities for French trade, de Gémozac added numerous exotic details and muted those qualities of maritime trade in Africa that de Hally seemed to find familiar or even impressive. Chouin provides numerous helpful explanatory footnotes throughout the text.
In addition to the two accounts of the voyage, the book includes three useful appendices. The first includes photographs and illustrations, including de Gémozac’s drawings. The second reproduces the cenotaph of Louis de Hally from the Eglise de Jouveaux in France. The third is an English translation of the two travel accounts. The book also includes a bibliography and an index.
This beautifully illustrated volume will serve many purposes in the academy. By presenting these two entirely original and hitherto virtually unknown sources, the book provides useful primary sources for research on both French and West African history. Those parts of the texts dealing with West African societies include rare descriptions of flags and umbrellas used by Africans on the Gold Coast and expand our knowledge of the complex commercial and interpersonal relationships between West Africans and Europeans in the seventeenth century. The comparison and analysis of the two texts together illuminate the crucial differences between published and unpublished sources as tools for historical research and contributes to important academic discussions about the value and use of European travel accounts as historical sources.
