Iwe Irohin.

£1,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A very good copy of Ire Irohin , the first newspaper printed in Nigeria . Founded in Abeokuta in 1859, by the English missionary, Henry Townsend (1815-1886) the paper began mostly as a christian mouthpiece evangelising to its readership and giving information on other missions. However, unlike other newspapers in West Africa, “whose translations from English were done by European missionaries, the Yoruba part of the Iwe Irohin was entirely translated by Egba converts. This had the advantage that the regular translation of a large quantity of material was possibly and the exercise served as a useful means of preparing the translators for other more important translations” (Omu, 38-39). This issue commences with a patronising entreaty: “Africans should visit England to for a just idea of the vast difference between a civilised country and theirs, and to obtain just notions of what ought to be done here to improve and elevate the county.” The editorial then lays blame at Egban complicity in the slave trade: “The wealth of a country is its population judged both as regards number and quality. If so Africans have been pursuing a course calculated to impoverish their country, they have sold away the population, the great source of wealth to any country, for whom they have met greedy purchasers …” In the “Recent Intelligence” section, there is a report on a peace embassy from “various towns to the north” (principally the king of Oyo - king of the Yorubas) requesting an interview wit

• Binding: Hardcover

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