Facing Mount (Mt.) Kenya - The Tribal Life of the Gikuyu

First Edition signed and inscribed by Jomo Kenyatta, dated 1944, atop front free endpaper. xxvi, 339 pp. Index. Glossary. Eight pages of black and white photographic plates. One-page map of Gikuyu Country. "One of the first really competent and instructive contributions to African ethnography by a scholar of pure African heritage. Through his upbringing Mr. Kenyatta combines to an unusual extent the knowledge of Western ways and Western modes of thought with a training and outlook essentially African. As a first-hand account of a representative African culture, as an invaluable document in the principles underlying culture-contact and change; last, not least, as a personal statement of the new outlook of a progressive African, this book will rank as a pioneering achievement of outstanding merit." - from Introduction. Author was the founding father of Kenya and led the nation from its independence in 1963 until his passing in 1978. Somewhat above-average soiling and wear to tan fabric-covered boards. One-inch split in fabric between foot of backstrip and front board. Brilliant gilt lettering in green panels upon backstrip. Contents unmarked with occasional moderate soiling and minimal foxing. Binding tender in places but intact. Two openings, each less than one centimetre, to central portion of front hinge. A special copy of this important work. Book

ISBN: B0014NO7OM