THE KHOISAN PEOPLES OF SOUTH AFRICA - Bushmen and Hottentots (1930) - in scarce original dust jacket

Publisher's light brown cloth binding.

xi + 450pp. Includes 16 plates and 2 maps (all present).

Book is clean and square. Binding solid. The dust jacket is still in very good condition with mild age-associated edge wear. Copies in their original jackets are extremely uncommon.

'This is the first volume of a series which is planned to cover the ethnography of Africa. Dr. Schapera has both academic and field experience in South Africa, and has had personal contact with the peoples whose culture he here describes. The Khoisan, a compendious but necessary label, distinguishing, as does Bantu, one of the specific cultures of Africa, include the Bushmen and the Hottentots, and this volume not only comprises the author's own observations and deductions, but also provides a critical summary of all that has hitherto been written on the subject. As the greater part of this literature is hidden in scientific journals, many of which are not readily accessible, such a survey by a competent ethnologist cannot fail to enhance the value of this volume to the student of African cultures.'

In four parts, namely:

PART I: ETHNO GEOGRAPHY 1.) The Country of the Khoisan 2.) History, Distribution, and Tribal Divisions 3.) Physical Characters: Dress and Decoration.

PART II: CULTURE OF THE BUSHMEN 4.) Social Organisation 5.) Social Habits and Customs 6.) Economic and Political Life 7.) Religion and Magic 8.) Art and Knowledge.

PART III: CULTURE OF THE HOTTENTOTS 9.) Social Organisation 10.) Social Habits and Customs 11.) Economic Life 12.) Regulation of Public Life 13.) Religion and Magic 14.) Art and Knowledge.

PART IV: THE KHOISAN LANGUAGE 

Copy belonged to academic Johannes Wilhelm Pont (1898-1977), a Dutch national who immigrated to South Africa in 1921. He initially worked as a teacher at the Kroonstad high school and in 1928 joined the South African Department of Agriculture. In 1936 he obtained his Phd. in plant physiology at the Rijks University of Utrecht. He was a specialist in the field of seed cultivation and plant nutrition.