Paul Edward Hedley Hair

Professor Hair's aim here has been to explore the European written record for the history of Africa south of the Sahara. This effectively began with the arrival of the Portuguese on the Guinea coast and many of these articles focus on Sierra Leone; others extend the enquiry to southern Africa. One particular theme is the use of early vocabularies of African languages as a source for the history of local populations. At the same time, these studies help illuminate the European reaction to the peoples and the places they encountered.

European Contacts and Evidence, 1450-1700

Africa Encountered

David B. Quinn

Cecil H. Clough

P. E. H. Hair

For half a century David Beers Quinn wrote on the history of the early relationship between England and North America. This volume was presented in tribute to his meticulous and authoritative but cautious scholarship, on the occasion of his 85th birthday. It includes his "Reflections" on a lifetime of research, and his bibliography. But his interests in the early period of "the expansion of Europe" have never been limited to England or North America, and this volume accordingly takes as its theme the widest historical context of the subject and period, the whole European outthrust and encounter, in its first phase. Ten contributions by recognized scholars provide select exemplars, to serve as a stimulating introduction to this vast theme. Three overview essays deal with specific regions of the outthrust, chosen because of differences in outcome: Ethiopia, the Far East, and Siberia. The remaining essays consider specific episodes in localities ranging from Guayana to China, and their discursive echoes, and are essentially concerned with a leading feature of David Quinn’s scholarship, the discovery, examination and interpretation of sources. A preliminary essay discusses the theme and links the various contributions within a framework of critical generalization.

Paul Edward Hedley Hair

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