West African Folk Tales
1917, many featuring Anansi, and illustrated by Cecilia Sinclair
Author
Publisher
Printing Details
First edition. Hardback, bound in the original green cloth with printed titling to spine and upper board. 25.5 × 17.5cm, 184pp.
A delightful collection of stories and fables from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania and other countries along the west coast of Africa, collected by American missionary William H Barker. Many stories feature the Spider-man Anansi, a clever but devious character who usually comes to a bad end. Most of the stories or fables have a clever moral, or tell how some aspect of the natural world came to be.
The book has 24 illustrations (photographic frontispiece and 23 drawings).
Condition
A good reading copy. The green cloth is mottled and rubbed to the spine ends. Light foxing to the prelims and a previous owner's name and date to ffep (the folklorist Francesca Claremont). The main body of text is in good readable condition. All plates are present as per the plate index, but one is neatly detached.
Price
£20.00
