Untitled Image (King of Benin with Soldiers)
This engraving depicts a military procession with cavalry, infantry and weaponry in the kingdom of Benin in the Bight of Benin region. According to Dapper, "he is a powerful prince, the King of Benin. In one day he can assemble 20,000 soldiers, and in a short time raise an army of 80 to 100,000 men; he is also the terror of his neighbors and the fear of their peoples" (p. 311). Pieter van der Aa (1659-1733) was a Dutch publisher known for preparing maps and atlases, though he also printed pirated editions of foreign bestsellers and illustrated volumes. He never traveled to Africa. He adapted this image from Olfert Dapper (1636–1689), who was a Dutch physician and writer. Dapper wrote about world history and geography, although he never travelled outside the Netherlands. In an informed discussion of Dapper as an historical source, Adam Jones explains how there is virtually no evidence that "Dapper took much interest in what sort of visual material was to accompany his text, and that it was the publisher, Van Meurs, who probably did all the engraving himself." Even those these images have been used as historical evidence in modern works, Jones concludes that "few of the plates showing human beings and artefacts are of any value. . . [and] originated solely from Van Meurs' imagination” (see "Decompiling Dapper: A Preliminary Search for Evidence," History in Africa 17 (1990): p. 187-190).
Image Title
Untitled Image (King of Benin with Soldiers)
RegID
SI-OB-877
Date
1729
Title
Untitled Image (King of Benin with Soldiers)
Source
Pieter van der Aa, La Galerie Agrèable du Monde (Leide: Van Der Aa, 1729).
Language
Dutch
Item sets
Pre-Colonial Africa: Society, Polity, Culture
Spatial Coverage
Africa--Western Bight
Reproduced In
Derived from Olfert Dapper, Description de l'Afrique. . . Avec des cartes & des figures en taille-douce. . . Traduite du Flamand, 1st ed. (Amsterdam: Wolfgang & Co., 1686), p. 311.
Researchers
Jerome Handler; Michael Tuite; Henry B. Lovejoy Graduate Research Assistants: Tiffany Beebe; Travis May
Last Updated
2007; 28-Aug-19
Identifier
B016