A Mission to Gelele King of Dahome; With Notices of the so Called "Amazons", the Grand Customs, the Yearly Customs, the Human Sacrifices, the Present State of the Slave Trade, and the Negro's Place in Nature

London: Tinsley Brothers, 1864. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good. 8vo. 2 vol. [7], viii-xvii, [2], 2--6, [1], 8-386, [2]; [4], vi, [1], 2-412, [2] pp. Half contemporary calf over marbled boards, spine in six compartments with a black morocco label lettered in gilt on each spine. Each volume illustrated with a frontispiece. Casada 47; Penzer 72. Burton here recounts his visit to Dahome, ruled at the time by King Gelele. The king was known for his enjoyment of human sacrifices, the execution of his subjects, and the use of enslaved people to maintain and grow Dahomey's crops. Burton was thoroughly reviled by his experiences in Dahomey, but considered his travels in Dahomey a valuable source of information regarding the status of slavery in the western hemisphere. A fascinating record of diplomacy and of Victorian travel. A Very Good set with moderate foxing to the flyleaves and two small marks of ownership on the front pastedown and flyleaf of each volume. A pencil annotation on p. 367 of volume one reveals a contemporary reader's reaction to Burton's comparisons of Dahomey's polygamy with Biblical polygamy.