W. Bleek

Specimens of Bushman Folklore W. Bleek

This captivating early work, first published in 1911 is both expensive and hard to find in its first edition. The Bushmen are an indigenous people whose territory covers South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Mozambique and Angola. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, since the 1950s they have begun to practice settled farming. The bushmen are perhaps most well-known due to their much publicised conflict with the government of Botswana which has been aiming to remove them from their ancestral lands since the 1990s. With a preface including a detailed description of the phonology of the Bushman language (part of the family of click languages of Southern Africa) and the methods undertaken in the collection of folklore. This is a thoroughly engaging book that will delight amateur and professional anthropologists alike. Contents Include: Mythology, Fables, Legends, and Poetry: The Mantis; Sun and Moon; Stars; Other Myths; Animal Fables; Legends; Poetry; History (Natural and Personal): Animals and their Habits ? Adventures with them ? and Hunting; Personal History, Customs and Superstitions; Appendix. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.