Images of Power. Understanding Bushman Rock Art (1989)

Lewis Williams, David and Thomas Dowson

Description:

The authors of this landmark work were the first to show in words and images that the art of the Southern African Bushmen - "once despised and considered by many Westerners to be on the lowest rungs of human evolution" - was not only on a higher level than the Upper Palaeolithic art found the French and Spanish caves of Lascaux and Altamira, but that "its symbolism and subtlety can readily be discussed alongside any of the great periods of Western art [including the Italian Renaissance, the Flemish masters and the French impressionists]."

The book's production does full justice to its content - including heavy matt art paper for the monochrome and two-colour sections and the same weight of gloss art for the full-colour section.

The lamination of the full-colour (price-clipped) dustjacket is creased, especially at the back, but this hardly detracts from its striking appearance. The brown paper-boards, white lettered on the spine, are in near-original condition, with very slight rubbing at the head and foot of the spine and at the two lower corners. The two-colour printed endpapers are unmarked and fine. The xii + 196 pp of text, illustrations, appendixes and index are unmarked and fine.

A very attractive copy.

 

Details:

  • Publisher: Southern
  • Publisher Place: Johannesburg
  • Date of Publication: 1989
  • Edition: First
  • Jacket Condition: Very Good
  • Binding Condition: Very Good
  • Overall Condition: Near Fine
  • Size: 245 x 185
  • Lot No: 37
  • Hammer Price: $70
  • Bids: 1
  • Visits: 69
  • Estimate: $135
  • Reserve: $70

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Seller Details:

  • Name: Fontein Books
  • Address: 27 Voortrekker Street, Philippolis 9970
  • Contact Person: Richard Proctor-Sims
  • Country of Origin: South Africa
  • Email: fontein@wol.co.za
  • Website:
  • Preferred Payment Methods: Internet bank transfer or Visa or Mastercard
  • Trade Association: AA Approved
  • Additional Information: Fontein Books has for several years participated in Antiquarian Auctions and its predecessor. It specialises in historical and contemporary books on the Free State and Northern Karoo, and is also an active buyer and seller on commission in these and other fields. Fontein's owner, Richard Proctor-Sims, was an editor, writer and small publisher until 2005, when he moved from Johannesburg to Philippolis, the first settlement (1822) north of the Gariep or Orange River, where he opened his first physical bookshop (to which buyers and sellers are welcome), with reasonable holdings in Africana, both Anglo-Boer wars, biography, history, military history, natural history and travel. He regularly visits Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town and offers to deliver heavy or valuable books or sets to these cities on such visits. Richard Proctor-Sims retains the copyright of Fontein's Antiquarian Auction descriptions and these may not be reproduced without permission and acknowledgment.