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Paul Hamlyn, Published 1969. Hardcover, 141 pp.; 29 cm; second impression (copyright 1967); illustrated with 24 pages of color plates and over 100 black-and-white photographs of African sculpture, masks, bronzes and ritual objects; illustrated endpapers.
In Very Good condition with a Good dust jacket. Dark brown cloth-covered boards with gilt Bambara antelope (chi wara) on front and gilt lettering on spine. Mild shelf and edge wear to covers; small diagonal scratch to upper front board. Binding tight. Gift inscription in ink dated 1971 and faint erased pencil price opposite half-title; pages otherwise clean and unmarked. Pictorial dust jacket (front: Yoruba painted bowl with figures and snake; rear: Benin bronze of a soldier playing a pipe; flaps with photograph of Dahomey twin figures) with a 1-inch tear at head of spine, a few smaller nicks and tears, and light creasing along edges. Mild shelf and edge wear with some scuffing to front panel and fading to spine; a few light spots to rear panel. Now in an archival quality (removable) Brodart cover. Illustrated survey of the myths and beliefs of Africa south of the Sahara, from the Hamlyn mythology series (uniform with Greek, Egyptian, North American Indian, Indian, Mexican and Oceanic Mythology). Parrinder, who spent years as a missionary and teacher in West Africa before teaching comparative religion at King's College London, covers the Supreme Being and creation myths, the origins of death and the world beyond, gods and spirits, oracles and divination, witches, secret societies such as the Poro and Ekpe, legends of Buganda, Benin and Great Zimbabwe, and animal fables of Hare and Tortoise. The photographs, many from the British Museum, the Horniman Museum and the Museum fur Volkerkunde, Munich, include Benin bronzes and plaques, Ife and Nok heads, Dogon, Bambara, Fang, Luba, Senufo and Yoruba carvings, Ashanti gold, and Poro and Ekpo masks. Contents: Introduction; The Creator; God Leaves the World; The First Men; The Mystery of Birth; The Origins of Death; The World Beyond; Gods and Spirits; Oracles and Divination; Witches and Monsters; Secret Societies and Ancestors; Legends of Old Africa; Animal Fables; Further Reading List; Acknowledgments; Index.