Chatwin, Bruce

The Viceroy of Ouidah

ISBN: 0224018205
London, England: Jonathan Cape, 1980. First UK Edition. Hardcover. "In the early 1800s a Brazilian slave trader sailed to the West African Kingdom of Dahomey, entered into a bizarre history of relations with its monarchs, acquired wealth and a position of outlandish influence but died a poor man. Bruce Chatwin's research into this curious story was abruptly thwarted when, on his second trip to Dahomey (by then called Benin), he was mistaken for a mercenary, arrested, dispatched and relieved of his money. Later, in Brazil, he decided that the telling of this tale should take the form it has in The Viceroy of Ouidah." (from front flap) The second work published during the lifetime of Bruce Chatwin (1940-1989), the acclaimed, award-winning British travel writer & novelist who died tragically of AIDS at the age of only 48. An exemplary historical novel, based on fact & stranger-than-fiction. This novel was the basis for the 1987 film version entitled Cobra Verde, directed by Werner Herzog & starring Klaus Kinski as the slave-trading anti-hero protagonist Francisco Manoel da Silva. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first British edition published the same year as the first American edition (1980). An unforgettable literary classic; an essential Chatwin collectible in its rarest original form & superb condition: Book very fine with only a touch of browning to upper edge of text block; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only very light rubbing, faint scratching to front, back covers & spine; a bit of wear & a few tiny bumps, creases at thin edges & corners of same & flaps. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4601]

Price: $125.00