Wilson-Haffenden, J.R.

The Red Men of Nigeria – An Account of a Lengthy Residence Among The Fulani, Or ‘Red Men’ & Other Pagan Tribes Of Central Nigeria, With A Description Of their Headhunting, Pastoral & Other Customs, Habits & Religion. With Illustrations & Map.

London, Seelet, Service & Co. Limited, 1930. 15 cm x 22 cm. Frontispiece, 318 pages. 22 illustrations, including frontispiece. Map for “The Red Men of Nigeria” at rear. Hardcover [publisher’s original red cloth] with gilt lettering on spine. Blind tooling to front board edges. Maroon text-block trim. Very good condition with only minor signs of external wear.

Includes, for example, the following: Nigeria / From Lagos to Bornu / Keffi / A Hausa Emirate / The Fulani and Their Cattle / Marriage and Family Conventions / The Kwottos, Igaras & Jukuns / Totems and Wer-Wolves / Animal Propitiation / Witch-Doctors & Medicine-Men / Love-Potions, Charms and Black Magic / Headhunting, Human Sacrifice and War Shrines / Wedding Rites and Domestic Life / Death, Burial and Eschatological Beliefs / Mourning and Resurrection Ceremonies etc.

Writing in the aftermath of the Great War and the descent into barbarism across much of the European continent that the war precipitated, Wilson-Haffenden is not given to taking an overly superior tone with regards to his observations:
″The performance of elaborate propitiatory gestures and prayers by a headhunter or an animal hunter over a corpse of his victim…tends perhaps at first to strike a European as not only indicative of a childish and unintelligent mentality, but even as showing a depraved and blasphemous religious viewpoint. On closer examination, however, I suggest that the above practices merely go to show how essentially similar to our own the native mind is. For it is in fact an easy matter to demonstrate that, given the reproduction of primitive conditions, many of us would, and indeed did but recently, react in response to analogous stimuli in a very similar manner to the native at the present day.” (p.171-72)

Foreword by Bronislaw Malinowski, Professor of Anthropology in the University of London. Malinowski (1884-1942) was one of the most important anthropologists of the 20th century who is widely recognized as a founder of social anthropology. (Encyclopedia Britannica)
The book is a record of personal experiences and observations in Nigeria, and in particular, it contains an instalment of the author’s contribution to the work of the Anthropological Department in the that Crown Dependency.

• Keywords: Africa · Africa – Rare · Africa, West · African Cultures · African Identities · Africana Collection of Rare Books · Animism · Anthropology · Birth · Black Magic · British · British Author · British Colonial Administration · British Dominions · British Empire · Cannibalism · Cattle · Ceremonies · Childbirth · Childhood and youth · Circumcision · Cultural · Cultural Studies · Culture · Death · Ethnography · Ethnology · Family · Folk Art · Folk Music · Folk songs · Folk Stories · Folk Tales · Folklore · Head-hunters / Head-hunting · Human Sacrifice · Hunting · Magic · Medicine Men · Medicine Native · Native, Rituals and Customs · Natives · Nigeria · Religion · Religion and Culture · Religion, Primitive · Resurrection · Ritual · Rituals · Taboo(s) · Totems · Travel · Travel Writing · Travellers · Travelling Authors · Weddings, Customs, Rituals etc · Werewolves · West Africa · Witch · Witchcraft · Witchdoctor
• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 120215AB

EUR 275,--