A lovely sammelband of Malagasy and French dictionaries. The first title being a rare Ile Bourbon imprint.
Pierre Dalmond (c.1800-1847) was born in Cambiau, was educated at Fage, and joined the important seminary in Montpellier where he became a priest in 1824. He was posted to Guadeloupe in 1826 and spent four years there before returning to France and, on meeting Henri de Sonalges (Apostolic Prefect of Bourbon (La Réunion) decided to join him. He arrived in 1831 and was made vicar in Saint-Paul, then Saint Denis. After Solanges’ death in 1832, Dalmond decided to evangelise in Madagascar. He learned Malagasy and travelled to Saint Marie in 1837. Over two stints, he managed to baptise about 1500 people.
1840 brought him to both Nosy Be and then Bourbon. It was during this time that he began printing. First, a Malagasy Book of Prayers, a catechism and a collection of hymns. They were followed by the first of the two works bound here: Vocabulaire et Grammaire pour les Langues Malgaches Sakalave et Betsimitsara. The first press on Madagascar had only been established in 1827 by the London Missionary Society, so this is still from the first period of Madagascan printing history.
“Dalmond was named apostolic prefect of Madagascar in 1842 and immediately decided to go to Europe to look for help, to which request the Society of Jesus responded positively, and he returned to Madagascar with six Jesuits. These Jesuits worked in the north of the country in an area known as Nosy Be. One of the many activities in which they were involved was the instruction of young Malagasy children in La Réunion, particularly at the Jesuit residence called La Ressource. One of these children was Basilide Rahidy (1839–83), son of the prince of the Betsimisaraka ethnic group known as Linta. Rahidy became the first Malagasy to be ordained Jesuit priest in 1874” (Rabeson).
While there are several copies held in institutions, the work is very rare in the trade with only this copy listed at auction.
Rabeson, J., “Jesuits and Protestants in Nineteenth-century Madagascar” in Maryks, R.A., & Mkenda, F., Encounters between Jesuits and Protestants in Africa (Brill, 2017), p.175.
