TRAILS AND TRIBES (De Luxe edition signed by the author)

In Southern Africa

De luxe edition: 211 pages, profusely illustrated with black and white photographs, several in colour, full green morooco binding with gilt and blind decoration on the upper cover, titled gilt on the spine, which has faded, all edges gilt, a very good copy.

Limitation reads: This is copy number 2 of a specially bound edition, signed by the author, and limited to seventy copies only.

Peter Becker, while running an advertising agency, researched and wrote three other books on the Black people of South Africa that appeared during the 1970s - Tribe to township (1974), Trails and tribes of southern Africa (1975) and Inland tribes of southern Africa (1979) - He also wrote a series of newspaper articles published in The Star, which were subsequently published in book form under the title The peoples of southern Africa: their customs and beliefs in 1971, and produced radio talks and an award-winning television series entitled The tribal identity.

A man of many talents, Becker's versatility also extended to the arts. He was an accomplished musician, artist and photographer, and secretary of the West Rand Arts and Crafts Association and the Johannesburg Orchestra and Theatre Movement. Becker, who was regarded as an authority on indigenous birds, trees and plants, was equally at home in the solitude of the natural environment as he was in the company of others. In May 1984, while engaged in research for a book on American Indians, he died instantly after being hit by a car outside Florence, Arizona as he was crossing the road to take a photograph.

For a detailed biographical sketch see:
https://www.sahistory.org.za/people/peter-becker