author

Joseph Corry

A little-known early 19th-century writer, he is remembered for a detailed account of West Africa based on travels made in 1805 and 1806. His work blends firsthand observation, commercial reporting, and a strong interest in the campaign against the slave trade.

1 Audiobook

Observations Upon the Windward Coast of Africa The religion, character, customs, &c. of the natives; with a system upon which they may be civilized, and a knowledge attained of the interior of this extraordinary quarter of the globe; and upon the natural and commercial resources of the country; made in the years 1805 and 1806; with an appendix, containing a letter to Lord Howick, on the most simple and effectual means of abolishing the slave trade

Observations Upon the Windward Coast of Africa The religion, character, customs, &c. of the natives; with a system upon which they may be civilized, and a knowledge attained of the interior of this extraordinary quarter of the globe; and upon the natural and commercial resources of the country; made in the years 1805 and 1806; with an appendix, containing a letter to Lord Howick, on the most simple and effectual means of abolishing the slave trade

by Joseph Corry

About the author

Very little confirmed biographical information about Joseph Corry survives, which makes him one of those authors known mostly through his books rather than through a well-documented life. What can be confirmed is that he wrote Observations upon the Windward Coast of Africa, first published in 1807.

That book drew on travels made in 1805 and 1806 along the Windward Coast of West Africa. In it, he described local customs, religion, trade, and the region’s natural resources, presenting the work as both an observational account and a practical study for British readers interested in Africa.

Corry is also notable for linking his travel writing to the politics of his time. The book includes a letter to Lord Howick arguing for effective ways to abolish the slave trade, so his writing sits at the meeting point of travel narrative, commercial history, and the anti-slave-trade debate of the early 1800s.