CULWICK, Arthur Theodore and Geraldine M. Ubena of the Rivers ... with a Chapter by Mtema Towegale Kiwanga and an Introduction by Dr. L.H. Dudley Buxton. London, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, 1935.
8vo. Original purple cloth, spine lettered in gilt, price-clipped dustwrapper with trace of price-label on upper flap; pp. 444, [4 (publisher's catalogue)]; half-tone frontispiece, 5 half-tone plates, 2 folding maps, one folding pedigree chart, illustrations and letterpress tables in the text; edges of dustwrapper slightly creased and rubbed, a few very light spots, otherwise a very good copy.
First edition, [?later issue with amended price]. The Ubena region lies in Tanzania just north-east of Lake Nyasa, and the present work offers a history of the Bena rulers and elders of the area, including a chapter by Chief Towegale Kiwanga. 'This book was prompted by the eagerness of the Chief Towegale Kiwanga, and many of the Bena royal clan and elders, to have a permanent record of tribal history and custom. Mr. and Mrs Culwick have lived among them for some years, and have the complete confidence of the tribe together with a thorough knowledge of the language and the same training in scientific investigation. The result is a well-balanced picture of the life and outlook of a typical East African Bantu tribe in a period of transition, in which the mythical "dead cake of custom" stands revealed as a living thing, capable of growth and development' (dustwrapper blurb).
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