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THE ROCK PAINTINGS OF SOUTHERN AFRICA (Six Volumes)
Abbe Henri Breuil's studies of prehistoric rock paintings in Southern Africa are "among the richest and most varied records yet discovered of early man." Breuil copied by tracing; the Trianon Press reproduces his work by the collotype and hand-stencil process, using photographs to document each plate. In all, six volumes of the Abbe's remarkable scholarship were produced.
I. THE WHITE LADY OF THE BRANDBERG with the collaboration of Mary E. Boyle and Dr. E.R. Scherz. Paris and London: The Trianon Press (1966) 4to, tan cloth; 22 colour plates; 33 photographs. Fine in dust jacket. One of 800 copies.
For this issue of a work printed first in 1955, the Boyle preface is specially written. "Of all the sites which the late Abbe Breuil studied in Southern Africa, the White Lady frieze is the most beautiful and aesthetically satisfying." First in the series devoted to the Rock Paintings of Southern Africa. Breuil initially went to Africa in 1929, and Boyle worked with him for nearly 40 years. The White Lady is situated in the remote Brandberg mountains of SW Africa, discovered by chance in 1917. $125.00
II. PHILIP CAVE with the collaboration of Mary E. Boyle and Dr. E.R. Scherz. London: Abbe Breuil Publications (1957) 4to. 31 plates by colour collotype and hand-stencil printed by Hourdebaigt, Trianon Press and Beaufume; 30 photographs; 19 pages of reproductions, including one double page, the text printed by Spottiswoode, Ballantyne & Co. Ltd in London and Colchester. Designed by Arnold Fawcus and produced by theTrianon Press. First edition, fine.
This work reveals an interesting and hitherto little-known frieze in the Erongo region of South-West Africa, which bears a close affinity to the paintings in the White Lady shelter some 90 miles to the north-west.
III. THE TSISAB RAVINE AND OTHER BRANDBERG SITES with the collaboration of Mary E. Boyle, Dr. E.R. Scherz and R.G. Strey. Published by The Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation through Trianon Press (1959) 4to. 77 plates, including one double-page; 50 photographs, including two double-page photo-montages. A separate chapter documents recent discoveries in the upper and western reaches of the Brandberg, with 39 more photographs and copies of painted rock sites, some of them extremely important. First edition, fine. One of 1000 copies.
The Brandberg was first mapped in 1917 by the German surveyor Maack, who discovered the "White Lady". This map remained the only one in existence until 1955. Breuil camped in the Brandberg in 1947 and again in 1948. The volume in hand documents a great number of painted rock shelters clustered near the White Lady.
IV. ANIBIB & OMANDUMBA AND OTHER ERONGO SITES with the collaboration of Mary E. Boyle, Dr. E.R. Scherz and R.G. Strey. [Paris:] Published by TheCalouste Gulbenkian Foundation through Trianon Press (1960). 4to, blue green cloth; 80 plates, including 2 double-page; 72 figures and 55 photographs reproduced in monochrome collotype, with a further 17 photographs of sites in Omandumba West discovered after the Abbe's last visit in 1950. First edition, fine in dust jacket. One of 800 copies.
Breuil visited the region in 1948. The introductory text includes the Abbe's detailed explanatory notes on each painting. Anibib and Omandumb, together with Springbokfontein, are neighbouring properties in the Erongo mountain range of South-West Africa. $200.00
V. SOUTHERN RHODESIA / The District of Fort Victoria and Other Sites with the collaboration of Mary E. Boyle. Foreword by Roger Heim. Published by The Singer- Polignac Foundation through the Trianon Press [Chateau de Boissia, Clairvaux, Jura and Paris] (1966) 4to, green cloth; 63 colour plates; 19 photographs; 3 line illustrations. First edition, fine in dust jacket. One of 388 copies.
Breuil visted Rhodesia (then Southern Rhodesia) in 1948 and 1950. His study reveals affinities with the White Lady, and traces of immigrants from the north several thousand years before the white settlers of our own time. Most of the paintings here have never before been published and are largely unknown. Regions include Dandabari, Chamavara, Mbara, The Chibi Reserve; the "White Rhino" shelter; Nswatugi, Makumbe and Goromonzi. TheAbbe traced from the rock face whenever possible, "often under extremely difficult conditions. " $450.00
VI. THE SPHINX And WHITE GHOST SHELTERS And Other Spitzkopje Sites with the collaboration of Mary E. Boyle and Dr. E.R. Scherz. Preface by Arnold Fawcus. Paris and London: The Trianon Press (1975) 4to, brick colored cloth; 64 plates; 41 figures. First edition, fine. One of 300 copies.
The final volume in the series, and by far the scarcest. The only volume entirely produced after Breuil's death and without his supervision, utilizing the diaries of Breuil and Boyle. Edited by Mary Laing and Barbara Sessions. Mary Boyle died in December 1974, just before publication, and this volume is published in memoriam / "The Abbe's lifelong friend and assistant without whose help this series would not have been published."
The research was accomplished by the Abbe in September, 1948. Topography of the sites is included, together with descriptions of the plates. "The present volume is of particular interest since it contains both the Abbe's copies and excellent photographs of mythical figures, such as 'sphinx-gryphons', and of various profiles and non-indigenous features. These astonishing paintings lend strong support to the Abbe's hypothesis discussed in earlier volumes regarding the dating and origin of certain figures throughout South-West Africa and in Rhodesia to whom Breuil attributed either semitic, nilotic, or mediterranean ancestry --- or, alternatively, a common ancestry to the east of the Red Sea."
NB! We have several copies of each of the other titles in this series, but of this title, we have only a single example. $500.00
SAMUEL PALMER / A Vision Recaptured: The Complete Etchings and the Paintings for Milton and for Vergil. Published by Trianon Press Facsimiles for the William Blake Trust. 1978. Small 4to, original illustrated wrappers, 88pp. 23 plates. 1/2000 with one facsimile of a Palmer etching. Very fine.
Foreword by Ronald Lightbown; Introduction by Sir Geoffrey Keynes and Arnold Fawcus. Essays by Raymond Lister and Graham Reynolds, with a Catalogue of the Etchings, Chronology and Selected Bibliography. $45.00
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Last updated on September 22, 1997
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