Search Results: Anthropology from Christison Rare Books, IOBA SABDA

(Cape Town: Struik, 1984) 0869770578. 4to; original brown boards, lettered in white on spine and upper cover; pictorial dustwrapper; pp. 184, incl. index; map; profusely illustrated with photographs in monochrome and full colour. Dustwrapper ever so slightly rubbed and a little foxed to reverse, with discreet archival tape repair to reverse of edge-tear. Very good condition. "Strictly speaking, the tribal people of Southern Africa have ceased to exist: so much is changing, so much has already been lost. Dr Martin West and Jean Morris have collaborated to create an image in words and pictures of what remains of the traditional African way of life in South Africa. All the major groups are described; their customs, rituals and dress are shown and the meanings discussed. This is a record of a way of life centuries old but now, inexorably, drawing to an end. It may well be that at some point in the future, all that will remain of this proud heritage will be its oblique reflection in the new… Read More

(London: Oxford University Press, 1961). 8vo; original black cloth, lettered in gilt on spine; dustwrapper; tinted top edge; pp. xii + 251, incl. index; tables; monochrome photographic plates; folding map at rear. Bottom fore-corners of boards bumped; earlier owner's hand-stamp to front free endpaper; excellent dustwrapper with short tear at head of spine. Very good condition. "This study by Dr Hilda Kuper, of the University of Natal, was originally published in 1947 and is based on field studies. The author gives an account of the social organization of the Swazi, with special reference to the aristocratic structure of their society and the way in which birth and rank determine social relationships and activities. ... For this new edition the author has written a Preface reviewing recent developments and post-war changes and their effect upon the Swazi." .

(London, Oxford University Press, 1970). 210 x 140 mm; wraps, rather rubbed; pp. x + 399; 23 black-and-white illustrations (some being pull-out charts); a little pencil underlining. Fair to good condition. "Professor Radcliffe-Brown, in an introductory essay, reviews the general principles underlying African systems of kinship and marriage, and traces the legal and social implications of the rules and customs regulating kinship ties and marriage in various societies both past and present. Each of the other contributors analyses a distinctive pattern of kinship organization and marriage custom as expressed in different societies in Africa today. The study is of great importance to scientific sociology, and also has a direct bearing on those urgent practical problems which arise when peoples who have lived in a largely kin-bound society are reacting to pressures and incentives from another social world." .

(London: Oxford University Press, 1961). 8vo; original black cloth; no dustwrapper; pp. xii + 251, incl. index; tables; monochrome photographic plates; folding map at rear. Cover rather soiled; foxed internally - quite severely so in endpapers and prelims. Fair condition only. "In itself An African Aristocracy is a work of limited pretentions; it is a study of the orientation of a particular society in a particular environment at a particular time. The essential starting point in an analysis of human society is that it is human, that its basic components are men, women, and children - and all that implies in emotional interaction - able to perpetuate and if necessary deliberately to change their social heritage." .

(Johannesburg: African Music Society, 1952). 4to; original red cloth, lettered in gilt on spine, with gilt dancer device to upper cover; pictorial dustwrapper; endpaper map; pp. (xii) + 156; numerous photographs. Dustwrapper somewhat torn, edgeworn and foxed; light bump to top fore-corner of upper board; some foxing to outermost leaves and edges, occasional fox spot elsewhere. Good to very good condition. "Hugh Tracey has long been known for his intimate studies of the music, dances and stories of many of the Bantu Tribes of Southern and Central Africa. His enthusiasm for the art of the genuine African musician, dancer and storyteller was largely responsible for the establishment of the African Music Society of which he is the Honorary Secretary. Born in England, he came to South Africa by way of the tobacco fields of Southern Rhodesia and is now engaged upon the collection of a representative library of gramophone records of African music which he hopes will firmly establish the international… Read More

(Johannesburg: Macmillan South Africa, 1983) 0869541161. 4to; original blue boards, lettered in gilt on spine; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pictorial endpapers; pp. 276, incl. index; beautiful full-page, colour illustrations by Barbara Tyrrell; line drawings in text. Occasional light foxing. Very good to near fine condition. "The heritage of the black peoples of Southern Africa is a rich and enormously varied one, deep rooted in the soil of the past but still a vital force in the present. Almost unaltered in the rural areas, it is, however, undergoing rapid change in the cities in reaction to contact with Western cultures, and is fast disappearing. In African Heritage a combination of text and pictures reveals the traditional beliefs, customs and ritual that shape the everyday lives of many of the black peoples in this region. Barbara Tyrrell's paintings represent a lifetime of study and travel. They capture the flavour of African life in vivid detail, the brilliance and colour of… Read More

(Grahamstown: African Book Company, 1907). 246 x 157 mm; side-stitched printed wraps; pp. (viii) + 112 + (viii); adverts. Cover slightly foxed and spine a little sunned; slightest edgewear; regular browning, owing to paper stock used. Good condition. A loosely inserted prospectus states: "The fact that the magazine has attained to such comparative longevity (especially in face of the unprecedented commercial depression that has prevailed over the whole country since the MONTHLY was established) confirms our belief that in South Africa there was and is room for a high-class literary magazine conducted on good lines." Highlights of this number include W. Hammond Tooke's article on "The Damara or Ova-Herero", the second of a two-part series by H. A. Bryden on the life of hunter Gordon Cumming, pennings by Cullen Gouldsbury, and reports on Cape politics of the time. .

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press / Cape Town: David Philip, 1999) 0864863977. 252 x 176 mm; pictorial wrappers; pp. xiii + (iii) + 302, incl. index; monochrome illustrations. Near-fine condition. 'Ethnological show business has a very long history in Europe. It became increasingly common after advances in navigational technology had put Europeans in touch with human communities all over the globe. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, some of the most interesting individuals and groups exhibited in Europe and America came from Africa. What did the average spectator think of such representatives from the "Dark Continent"? If the display was a dramatic one-that is, if the Africans sang, danced, or acted out events-what opinions did observers form of them as performers and as human beings? How was the spectacle staged, and who organized and managed the show? How authentic were these performances? Where did the performers actually come from? What notions about Africa and Africans… Read More

(Stellenbosch, University of Stellenbosch, June 1990). Wraps, pp. (45 - ) 88. Includes: Michael Lambert, 'Nomkhubulwana: the Zulu Demeter' (14 pages including citations). .

Early photographic postcard, sent in 1946, though the image is probably considerably earlier. A little rubbed and foxed. The handwritten text partially reads, "These are Amagweta boys, native boys who are now men. They are painted from head to foot in white clay, live by themselves for some time, and go through a lot of ceremony, this dance being one of them." .

(Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch, 1955). 245 x 185mm; original thin card wraps; pp. 73-152; figures and tables. Wraps a little sunned; edges slightly browned. Contents: J.H. Skinner: The Percentage Distribution of Deniker's Six European Races in Male Students at the University of Stellenbosch. .

(Pretoria: J. L. van Schaik, 1987) 0627015336. 208 x 130 mm; pictorial wrappers; pp. (xvi) + 185, incl. index; some diagrams. Wrappers a little curled and rubbed; some spotting to edges; earlier owner's name to title page; occasional pencilled underlining. Good. A very useful introduction to the discipline of anthropology, particularly suited to a South African readership. The editor states that "we have chosen to place our subject within the context of Southern Africa so that our readers ... may benefit from the familiar ring of many of our examples." Experts cover such broad subjects as the basic concepts of the science, artefacts, economy, jural systems, political organization, kinship, religion, language, education, play, and art. .

(Switzerland, Anthropos-Institut, Vol. 47, No. 1-2, 1952). Quarto, wraps, partly sunned and a little chipped at the spine, small hand-stamp on the upper wrap, pp. 368, plates. Hand-stamp in the margin of the first page, text a little browned. This issue contains: Zur Religion der Tujen des Sininggebietes (Kukunor); Sept contes des L'éla de la Haute-Volte (A.O.F.); Stenen werktuigen uit Flores (Indonesië); V-Shaped chest-Markings: distribution in and around the Pacific; Ergebnisse der anthropologischen Lappenforschung; Bride Price or Dower; Das Nomen im Tiv; Jagdgebräuche der Wewäk-Boikin-Leute in Nordost-Neuguinea; Tibetische Dialekte von A mdo; Affinités du Kofán; Zur Trommelsprache der Duala; Ein archäologischer Beitrag zur Urgeschichte des Schamanismus; etc. .

(Johannesburg: Delta Books, 1984). Edited by Barbara LaVine. 4to; original pale green boards, lettered in gilt on spine; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. 144; profusely illustrated with colour and monochrome photographs; maps. Dustwrapper sunned on spine panel and a little foxed to reverse side; trace of foxing to top edge, occasional fox spot elsewhere. Very good condition. "Art and Craft of Southern Africa is a book of colour, history, and change. The baskets, pottery, bead-work and dress so richly illustrated and described are truly treasures, but treasures in transition. ... Can these traditional arts benefit from this renaissance of Western interest and withstand the pressures of acculturation; or are they dying and headed for extinction? In these pages, this question is for the first time explored in depth. What the future will bring remains to be seen." .

(Johannesburg: Delta Books, 1984) 0908387342. Edited by Barbara LaVine. 4to; original pale green boards, lettered in gilt on spine; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. 144; profusely illustrated with colour and monochrome photographs; maps. Dustwrapper sunned on spine panel, with short tear to top edge of upper panel; slightly shelf-rubbed. Very good condition. "Art and Craft of Southern Africa is a book of colour, history, and change. The baskets, pottery, bead-work and dress so richly illustrated and described are truly treasures, but treasures in transition. ... Can these traditional arts benefit from this renaissance of Western interest and withstand the pressures of acculturation; or are they dying and headed for extinction? In these pages, this question is for the first time explored in depth. What the future will bring remains to be seen." .

(London: British Museum Publications, 1981) 0714115630. 245 x 188 mm; laminated pictorial wrappers; pp. 192, incl. index; full-colour plates; photographs and line drawings in text; map. Very slightly rubbed. Very good condition. "This book explores the peaceful achievements of the Asante: their splendid gold-working, their elaborate silks and cotton cloth, their fine wood-carving, their witty sayings and proverbs and, of course, the complex social, economic and governmental system which provided the structure within which these arts flourished. The book is illustrated with both nineteenth-century and modern photographs, and by many pieces from the British Museum's vast collections, which contain some of the first Asante objects brought to Europe." .

(London, Smith, Elder & Co., 1873). Extract from The Cornhill Magazine of December, 1873. 210 x 148; paper wrapper with title label mounted on cover; pp. [679-688]. Very good condition. .

(Philadelphia: University of Philadelphia Press, 1956). Signed presentation inscription from the author to first text page. Offprint from 'Selected Papers of the Fifth International Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, Philadelphia, September 1-9, 1956.' 234 x 155 mm; side-stitched printed wrappers; pp. [309-317]; map. Wrappers foxed and a little worn; portion of one sentence underlined on p. 313; donor bookplate, with ink stamp and code, to inside of upper cover; university library blind-stamp to first text page; pocket to inside of lower cover, and ink stamp and small label scar to last page. "The purpose of this paper is to show that certain evidence in regard to the cultural history of Africa may cast new light upon the influences that various features of Mediterranean culture had upon Africa, and especially upon the Kuanyama Ambo of South West Africa and South Angola; and, on this basis to consider the Ambo culture as a geographically isolated enclave of early… Read More

(Bloemfontein: Nasionale Pers, 1944). Number 26 in the "Kennis vir Almal" series. 178 x 133 mm; printed wrappers; pp. 106; plates. Wrappers foxed and a little worn; earlier owner's name signed on front free endpaper; some fox spots. Good condition. Afrikaans text. Overview of childhood among traditional South African tribes. "Ek het probeer om in hierdie boekie 'n algemene oorsig te gee van die jeuglewe van die Bantoe in Suid-Afrika. Aangesien die omstandighede waarin die naturelle vandag verkeer, baie verskil van die vroeëre toestande, vind daar ook 'n groot verandering plaas in hul kulturele lewe, en die jeuglewe soos hier beskrywe is al in groot mate iets van die verlede. Iets daarvan vind 'n mens nog net in die naturellestreke. Baie word vandag op dorpe en in stede groot en hul jeuglewe vertoon nou nie juis die beeld soos in hierdie boekie geskets word nie." .

(London, Oxford University Press for the International African Institute, 1955). 8vo; original green cloth, lettered in gilt on spine; price-clipped dustwrapper (housed in removable protector); pp. xi + (i) + 355, incl. index; monochrome photographic plates; folding map. Dustwrapper slightly mottled, with trace of wear at head of spine panel; earlier owner's book label to front free endpaper, and an ownership hand-stamp to title page; occasional moderate foxing. Good condition. "This book, based largely on the author's personal experiences when living in the village of a Basuto Chief, provides the first systematic and comprehensive account of the Basuto people and their changing culture since the works of the French missionaries published early in the century. After a sketch of the historical and social background the author gives a detailed account of the daily lives and activities of the people, describing the upbringing and education of the children, initiation, marriage and funerary… Read More