Hayti

EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS
extra-illustrated 8vo. xxiv, 389pp., folding coloured map, extra-illustrated with 17 small tipped in contemporary photographic portraits and a larger one of a medal, original olive green cloth, front board blocked in black and gilt, spine gilt lettered, title page foxed, else very good.
Contemporary armorial bookplate of J. Y. Calwell and an article on Hayti clipped from the Belfast News-Letter of June 1 1802 tipped to verso of front free endpaper.

St John (1825-1910), British diplomat, became British chargé d'affaires in Haiti and in 1871 took up the same post in the Dominican Republic. He was promoted to Minister in Haiti late in 1872. His assessment of the country based on twenty-five years experience which occurs on the first page of the introduction was that it was "a country in a state of rapid decadence". The book includes a description of the country and its troubled history, together with chapters on the population, "Vaudoux-Worship and Canniballism", cannibalism, the government, on the various aspects of the state and society, on language and literature and on economic activity. The book caused outrage because of its sensational tales of vodoo and cannibalism and is described as "a savagely hostile account" in O.D.N.B. In his introduction to this second edition St. John replies to some of his critics.
The photographs (circa 8.5 x 5.8 cms.) are contemporary (or earlier) portraits of leading figures from Haitian history and are tipped in at the head of the pages on which they are first mentioned in the text. Some of the photos are probably from life and others of earlier figures are presumably from miniatures. The persons, generally identified at the foot of the print, were presumably at some time commercially available separately from the book.