134
●
(AFRICA APARTHEID.)
WHITES ONLY—SLEGS BLANKES
Original
porcelain covered metal apartheid sign, 16 x 13
1
⁄
2
inches, framed; a few dings and chips with
rust where the metal has been exposed. South Africa, circa 1940’s-1950’s
[3,000/4,000]
A RELIC OF THE ERA OF APARTHEID IN SOUTH
A
FRICA
.
Apartheid was officially instituted
in South Africa in 1948. Two years later, a set of racial laws was drawn up. Three racial desig-
nations were established: White, Black and “Coloured.” Marriage between the races was of
course forbidden and entire areas of employment were closed to non-whites. Passbooks had to be
carried by everyone to come and go from work. Punishment for protest against this harsh system
was severe. Activists like the late Nelson Mandela were often tortured and received long jail
sentences. After 46 years Apartheid ended in 1994, with the first democratic elections and the
resulting presidency of Nelson Mandela.
IN OUR EXPERIENCE
,
SIGNS LIKE THIS ARE FAR
MORE SCARCE THAN THEIR
A
MERICAN COUNTERPART
.
134
135
MANDELA’S INDICTMENT
OF APARTHEID
135
●
(AFRICA APARTHEID.)
MANDELA, NELSON.
I Accuse!
Speeches to the Court by Nelson
Mandela.
24 pages. Small 8vo, original
pictorial wrappers.
Np (Johannesburg?), 1962
[2,000/3,000]
THE VERY RARE FIRST EDITION
of Nelson
Mandela’s second publication, a defense of him-
self and an indictment of the racist white
government of South Africa. “I Accuse” is a
fragile and elusive work, largely destroyed by
the South African government. The title no
doubt takes its name from Emile Zola’s
“J’accuse” an indictment of the French govern-
ment for anti-Semitism in the case of Alfred
Dreyfus (1898).
