Various Africa Maps from the collection of Ken Habeeb
5/28/2023 Ken Habeeb: "Some years back while I was reading about slavery, I ran across the phrase White Man's Grave. In trying to reconcile that with slavery, I saw that maps showed the vast African Interior as being "unknown." That sent me down a path to find out why...The amazing exploration stories followed. Then I was hooked....Africa was the last continent to be explored by anybody - by a lot, and Central Africa, in particular wasn't penetrated by Europeans until the late 19th century. The Spanish, English, and French had been inside the Americas already for four hundred years. Why? The African interior was dangerous because of disease, travel hardship, and inhospitable indigenous tribes. The continent had earned the name The White Man's Grave, and all business for centuries, including slavery was conducted only from forts and towns along the coastline. Today, African countries are determiing their own fate trading and realizing mineral and floral riches. For me, African maps, be they 15th century or later, graphically record the amazing exploration stories of the continent." Ken Habeeb @kenhabeeb 5/28/2023keywords: khabeeb, printsforsale
