BUSHMAN ART, Portfolio Number One

Title leaf, contents leaf stained by contact with an inserted newspaper cutting, 3 leaves of text (printed on one side only), contained in a cream paper folder (stiffened with green card) which is frayed at the top and  bottom of the spine with Bushman illustration on the upper cover, covered in glassine paper which is browned and frayed but the folder beneath is clean and bright, Overall a good copy. 

Contents of Portfolio - a list and captions to the plates, 21 plates (numbered 4 - 25) - 15 with coloured reproductions of paintings tipped on and 8 with black &; white reproductions and photographs, without the extra plate of 'Rock Painting from "Barrow Hills". 

Battiss established the Red Fawn Press to retain total creative control over his own publications. At a time when mainstream publishers were uninterested in bushman art as a serious subject, Battiss used this press to produce high-quality, limited-edition works.

This portfolio was produced shortly after Battiss returned from Europe in 1938, where he had met Abbé Henri Breuil. Inspired by the recognition given to European cave art (like Altamira and Lascaux), Battiss became determined to prove that South Africa possessed a creative heritage of equal or greater aesthetic value.