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Title: Wit and Wisdom from West Africa: A Book of Proverbial Philosophy, Idioms, Enigmas, and Laconisms by Richard F. Burton ISBN: 0-8196-0243-4 Publisher: Biblo & Tannen Booksellers & Publishers Pub. Date: 01 June, 1969 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $30.00

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Summary: Collection of African Proverbs
Comment: In "Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo" Richard F. Burton wrote:

"My visits to Mr. Walker [Rev. William Walker, in Gabon] first gave me the idea of making the negro describe his own character in a collection of purely Hamitic proverbs and idioms. It appeared to me that, if ever a book aspires to the title 'l'Africaine peint par lui-meme' [the African depicted by himself], it must be one in which he is the medium of his own spirit, the interpreter of his own thoughts. Hence, 'Wit and Wisdom from West Africa' "

First published in 1865, "Wit and Wisdom from West Africa" is a collection of roughly 1700 proverbs from seven languages spoken along the Atlantic coast of Africa. The proverbs were not collected by Burton himself; he complied them from other published sources (mostly missionaries who were working on African language dictionaries and grammar books). In a few cases Burton had some communication with the collectors whose works he borrowed from. "Wit and Wisdom from West Africa" contains the following chapters (noted with the original source and number of proverbs):

1) Proverbs in the Wolof Tongue (from "Grammaire Wolofe", by J. Dard, 1826), 226 proverbs.

2) Proverbs in the Kanuri Tongue (from "African Native Literature", by Rev. S.W. Koelle, 1854), 83 proverbs.

3) Proverbs in the Oji Tongue (from "Grammatical Outline of the Oji Language" by Rev. H.N. Riis, 1854), 265 proverbs.

4) Proverbs in the Ga or Accra Language (from "A Grammatical Sketch of the Akra, or Ga, Language", by Rev. J. Zimmermann, 1858), 221 proverbs.

5) Proverbs in the Yoruba Language (from "Grammar and Dictionary of the Yoruba Language" by Rev. T.J. Bowen, 1858) 483 proverbs.

6) Proverbs in the Efik or Old Calabar Language (from "A Dictionary of the Efik Language", by Rev. Hugh Goldie, 1862) 418 proverbs.

7) Proverbial Sayings and Idioms in the Mpangwe (Fan) Tongue (collected by Rev. Preston and Rev. Adams) 14 proverbs.

Each proverb is printed in its original language (in the Latin alphabet) as well as in English. Many proverbs have a few sentences of additional commentary. In a few cases Burton questions the spelling used by the original collectors.

With the strange (to us) mix of admiration and admonition vis-a-vis Africa that characterizes Burton, he provides an introduction to each chapter that discusses each people's (tribe's) geography and history. It seems clear that Burton was looking for something African to celebrate; and not finding an African Shakespeare or Da Vinci, he settled on proverbs as an African accomplishment worthy of acclaim.

These proverbs having been collected over a century ago, they offer a glimpse into Africa's past; perhaps as Burton wished, a bit of "the African as depicted by himself".