VERGER (Pierre). — GODS OF AFRICA - Lot 302

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VERGER (Pierre). — GODS OF AFRICA - Lot 302
VERGER (Pierre). — GODS OF AFRICA VERGER (Pierre). Gods of Africa. The Cult of the Orishas and Voduns on the former Slave Coast in Africa and in Bahia, the Bay of All Saints in Brazil. Forewords by Théodore Monod and Roger Bastide. One hundred sixty photographs by the author. Paris, Paul Hartmann, 1954. Quarto, publisher’s hardcover, with a color-illustrated dust jacket. First edition of this important photographic and ethnographic work by Pierre Verger, devoted to the cults of the Orishas and Voduns and to the religious and cultural ties linking the former Slave Coast—primarily Dahomey and Yoruba territory—to Bahia in Brazil. The book is one of the major works of Pierre Verger (1902–1996), a French photographer and ethnologist who devoted a large part of his career to the study of cultural exchanges between West Africa and Brazil. Having settled in Bahia in the second half of the 1940s, Verger conducted extensive field research in Dahomey and Nigeria and was himself initiated into the Ifá cult. A remarkable photographic collection comprising 160 original photographs by Pierre Verger, reproduced as heliogravures, some of which are full-page. They document ceremonies, dances, musicians, priests and dignitaries, shrines, ritual objects, and depictions of deities, constantly drawing parallels between the practices observed in West Africa and those perpetuated in Bahia. Among the subjects depicted are Shango, Oshun, and the Yoruba cults, with images taken in Dahomey, Nigeria, and Brazil. A map opposite the title illustrates the connections between the Slave Coast and Bahia. Beyond its ethnographic value, *Dieux d’Afrique* is now sought after as a photography book, as Verger’s vision combines exceptional visual artistry with an intimate understanding of the communities and rituals he photographed. The book occupies a central place in his work on transatlantic relations between African and Afro-Brazilian cultures. A beautiful copy preserved in its rare original color-illustrated dust jacket. The dust jacket is slightly worn, with small tears, creases, and minor losses along the edges, particularly at the top and bottom flaps and the corners; the interior is in generally good condition.
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