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Collection of 25 photographs of German South-West Africa, depicting native peoples, agricultural settlements, and the varied landscapes of the region.
[Windhoek, ca. 1899]. (GERMAN SOUTH-WEST AFRICA) 4-3/4 x 6-1/2 inches, on larger mounts. Photographs mounted on cards (most gilt-edged) and titled in ink in calligraphic script. Occasional faint spotting to mats, else fine. ¶ Apparently the work of two photgraphic studios in Windhoek (F. Lange and R. Wywias), the series of images depicts the many contrasts of the German settlement in South-West Africa (present-day Namibia), from arid stony landscapes to rich pastures and farmlands to a river in flood. The variety of tribal life is also recorded: perhaps the most striking portrait is of Kamasembi, the blind Herero "kaptein" or chief; other images show a family of Bushmen, Ovambos working in the fields; a cluster of Ovambo granaries with conical grass roofs; a poor Herero woman and her children; and a small Herero village of domed mud huts. The views of Keetmanshoop and Klein Windhoek depict tiny settlements in the midst of vast spaces; other views include a mission station in Ongiva, Ovamboland; a giant termite hill; landscapes in Ovamboland and the Waterberg; Voigts Farm, with grazing long-horned cattle and a solitary ostrich before a mist-ringed peak (with herds of ostrich and angora goats depicted in other photos); herds of livestock at Hoffnung ("Hope") Farm. There are also pictures of a sixteen-oxen wagon train and a Boer farmer plowing behind a team of eight long-horned oxen. A notable selection of photographs depicting German South-West Africa at the dawn of the twentieth century
Offered for US$ 3000.00 by: James Cummins Bookseller - Book number: 39713