Prospect of St. George's Castle at El Mina
This engraving depicts Europeans and Africans trade enslaved people at St. George's Castle and Fort Conradsburg (Coenraadsburg). Elmina was called St. George d'el Mina, while the smaller fort on the right is St. Jago, also known as Coenraadsburg. Thomas Astley (d. 1759) was a British bookseller and publisher who never went to Africa. His imagined localities and illustrations of Africa were informed by a library of travel books at his disposal.
Image Title
Prospect of St. George's Castle at El Mina
RegID
SI-OB-816
Date
1745-1747
Title
Prospect of St. George's Castle at El Mina
Source
"Plate LXI" in Thomas Astley (ed.), A New General Collection of Voyages and Travels (London, 1745-1747), facing p. 589.
Language
English
Item sets
European Forts & Trading Posts in Africa
Spatial Coverage
Africa--Voltaic--Elmina
Reproduced In
Derived from a larger engraving based on the late seventeenth century voyages of Jean Barbot and published in Awnsham Churchill and John Churchill, Collection of Voyages, (London: Printed for Awnsham and John Churchill, 1732). See also images in Jean Barbot, A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea (London: n. p., 1732); and Olfert Dapper, Description de l'Afrique. . . Traduite du Flamand (Amsterdam: Wolfgang, Waesberge, Boom & van Someren, 1686).
Researchers
Jerome Handler; Michael Tuite; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
16-Aug-10; 21-Aug-19
Identifier
Astley011