author
William Snelgrave
1681–1743
Best known for a vivid 1734 account of the West African coast and the Atlantic slave trade, this English sea captain left behind a firsthand narrative that historians still study today. His book is valuable both as a travel record and as stark evidence of how the slave trade was described and defended by one of its participants.
1 Audiobook
A new account of Guinea, and the slave-trade
by William Snelgrave
About the author
An English sea captain, slave trader, and ivory trader, William Snelgrave worked on the West African coast in the early eighteenth century. He is chiefly remembered for A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea, and the Slave-Trade, published in 1734, a book based on his voyages and experiences in the region.
The work includes descriptions of West African kingdoms, trade networks, shipboard life, and his capture by pirates in 1719. Because it is a firsthand account, it has remained an important historical source, especially for scholars studying the Atlantic world and the history of slavery.
At the same time, Snelgrave's writing reflects his role inside the slave trade rather than a neutral view of it. That makes his book useful not only for the details it preserves, but also for what it reveals about the attitudes and arguments of an eighteenth-century slave-trade captain.