THE SAN (BUSHMAN) PHOTOGRAPHS OF DOROTHEA BLEEK
Distribution map of
Bushmen languages, as drawn by Dorothea Bleek
Map of corresponding area
(circa 1891)
The 310 photographs available here appear in an album of photographs taken by Dorothea Bleek during her many expeditions to identify and record the San (Bushman) languages of Southern Africa. They date from her first expedition in 1910, when she visited Prieska and Kenhardt in the northern Cape in South Africa, up to trips made in the 1920s.
The album is part of the Bleek and Lloyd Collection in the Manuscripts and Archives Department at the University of Cape Town Libraries.
The Collection is listed in UNESCO's Memory of the World Register as a collection of unique world significance.
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Page from one of Dorothea's notebooks discussing image number 090
Dorothea Bleek was the fifth daughter of Dr Wilhelm Bleek, the noted philologist, who, with his sister-in-law, Lucy Lloyd, did an enormous and pioneering job of recording the language and folklore of the /Xam and the !Kung in the late 19th century. Dorothea Bleek continued the work of her father and aunt, recording and documenting the San languages of Southern Africa and publishing books and articles based both on her own work and theirs. Her most important work, published after her death, was A Bushman Dictionary.
She undertook many expeditions in the course of her research on the different San groups, their languages and rock art. In 1910 she visited the area near Prieska in the northern Cape, from where some of the San informants interviewed by her father and aunt had originated. Subsequent travels included trips to other parts of the northern Cape, the eastern Transvaal, South West Africa (present Namibia), Bechuanaland (Botswana), Angola and Tanganyika (Tanzania). Locations
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All 310 photographs in the album have been scanned. Although the image numbers indicate the position of each photograph in the album, it is suspected that some of the photographs may have been moved from the order as originally placed by Dorothea Bleek. Annotations on the backs of the photographs are in Dorothea Bleek's handwriting. We have transcribed them as faithfully as possible to the original.
The average size of the photographs is 14x9 cm.
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Metadata and design: Kate Murray, with
assistance from Janine Dunlop
Scanner: Emma Sealy
Coordinator and accompanying text: Lesley Hart
Additional technical information is available.
This project was presented in the poster session at the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) annual meeting held on August 18th - 24th 2002, in Glasgow, Scotland. Both the introduction and the graphic poster are available in PDF format. NB: The graphic poster file is very large.
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You may view or download an image, providing this is done only for the purposes of private research and/or study.
You may also display a single personal copy for purposes of an academic lecture or seminar, provided that no further duplication occurs or is allowed to occur.
You may not duplicate the image in any medium for another person or institution.
If you wish to reproduce any of the images in any publication, films or electronic medium, you must obtain written permission from the University of Cape Town Libraries and negotiate a fee for such a purpose.
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To view the photographs, please click on the agreement below:
Note: The XML page containing the images can only be viewed in Internet Explorer 5.0 and above; the XML page and the images can not be viewed in Netscape.