Astonishing Gandhi Archive Estimated $622,000-$870,000 At Sotheby's

By Stephen J. Gertz

A highly important and revealing archive of letters, papers, and photographs of M.K. Gandhi, one of the towering figures of the twentieth century, comes to auction on July 10, 2012 at Sotheby's -London. The trove is estimated to sell for €500.000 - €700,000.($622,000 - $870,000).

The archive was the possession of Hermann Kallenbach (1871-1945), a German Jew and successful architect originally from East Prussia who had settled in Johannesburg and was Gandhi's constant companion during the great man's last decade in South Africa. They met in 1904.

"He used to say to me often that when I was deserted by the whole world I would find him to be a true friend going with me, if need be, to the ends of the earth in search of Truth..." (M.K. Gandhi, March 25, 1945).

The years that followed the initiation of their friendship saw Gandhi's political maturation and spiritual growth, the period that prepared him for his future return to and activism in India. Kallenbach played a key role in Gandhi's life not only as someone who arguably knew him better than anyone else  but who played a unique role in Gandhi's transformation from lawyer to Mahatma.

This was not a friendship of equals. Kallenbach became one of the first believers in Gandhi's philosophy and struggled to follow his strict and exacting regime. Kallenbach became deeply involved in the struggle for Indian rights in South Africa, was imprisoned in 1913 for doing so, followed Gandhi from vegetarianism to increasingly restricted diets, practiced sexual abstinence, and adopted a simple, communal lifestyle.

In 1910 he bought a 1,100 farm twenty miles from Johannesburg and turned it over to Gandhi. The two were closely involved in managing the farm. The archive documents the farm's purchase and the friends' acquisition of fruit trees, as well as arguments with neighbors over grazing rights.

It was Gandhi's aim to have Kallenbach return with him to India via Britain in 1914 but the declaration of war between Britain and Germany occurred while they were at sea. Upon their arrival in England Kallenback was declared an enemy alien and was interned for the duration of hostilities, afterward returning to Johannesburg. Gandhi had made his way to India but the two friends never lost contact.

In poignant letters the archive reveals Kallenbach's deep intimacy with Gandhi's family; he was something of a surrogate father to Gandhi's four sons, two of whom had remained in South Africa. Their letters, along with those from other family members to Kallenbach, provide the richest source yet for insight in Gandhi's personal life in India.

Kallenbach would not see Gandhi again until 1937 when he visited his friend and remained in India for two years.

This extraordinarily rich archive stands alongside the main group of Gandhi's letters to Kallenbach (sold at Sotheby's in December 1986) as a testament to this hugely significant figure in Gandhi's life and important member of his inner circle. It is a key and crucial biographical source for Gandhi.

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Images courtesy of Sotheby's, with our thanks.
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An Africana Library Goes To The World Cup

South African Puppets Representing
Two National Soccer Teams
Participating In The 2010 World Cup.
(All Images Courtesy Of Northwestern University Libraries.)

The first World Cup soccer tournament ever to take place on the African continent has focused the eyes of sports fans around the globe on South Africa. The United States is one of the few nations in the world yet to fully embrace "the beautiful game." But even Americans are becoming soccer fans at long last, thanks to their own nation's inspiring performance in this year's tourney, making it to the round of sixteen.

This year's World Cup final, between the Netherlands and Spain, is expected to be the most watched sporting event ever televised. This places South Africa at the center of the sporting universe, and in the brightest media spotlight ever shown on an African nation. All of which prompted the largest library on the planet dedicated exclusively to the study of Africana to begin a new collection of 2010 World Cup memorabilia.

A Hand Woven World Cup Rug,
Made From Recycled Plastic Bags.

The Melville J. Herskovits Library of African Studies is located at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. And if it seems strange that the finest collection of Africana on the globe should be located in suburban Chicago, the reason for its location is no mystery. The ground-breaking work of a single anthropologist, for whom the library is named, is what brought this extensive and unique collection about the Southern Hemisphere's largest continent to the Land of Lincoln.

Anthropologist
Melville J. Herskovits.

Melville Jean Herkovits (1895-1963) was the child of European Jewish immigrants, who spent a large portion of his adolescence in El Paso, Texas. Needless to say, this gave him a first-hand taste of what it meant to be an isolated outsider in a culture that was nearly 100% Christian at the time. Perhaps this is what drew him to the then relatively new scholarly field of anthropology, and to specialize in the study of the effect of Africa's evolutionary past on present day African-American culture and social organization. Herskovits was one of the first scholars to recognize that African culture was deserving of academic attention and respect, at a time when the prevailing attitude was that European culture was superior to that of the nations the West had colonized.

Close-Up Of A Fleece Blanket
Featuring The Team Nickname Of South Africa.
(Bafana Bafana is a term of endearment meaning The Boys.)

Herskovits founded the Northwestern School of Anthropology in 1938, after earning degrees from the University of Chicago and Columbia University. He created the first Program of African Studies in the United States, and became its chairman. It is these remarkable accomplishments that led the Illinois University to name the Africana Library in his honor. The Library's collections are an unrivaled resource for scholars of African Studies. Its holdings include 285,00o monographs, 2,800 current serials, 250 current newspapers, and 5,000 non-circulating rare books. Specialized materials in 300 African languages are available, along with archival and manuscript collections, and extensive collections of ephemera, maps, posters, videos, photographs, and all manner of Africa-related memorabilia.

Is Someone At The Library As Psychic As Paul The Octopus?
This photo was posted on July 1,
But Features Puppets Representing The Two Teams
In The July 11 World Cup Final.

Which brings us back to the new 2010 World Cup collection. Included in the collection are books, magazines, comic books, music CDs, official African team jerseys, commemorative items such as textiles, puppets, hats, scarves, dolls, mugs, toys, and even the brand new Jabulani World Cup Soccer Ball, ("Jabulani" means "celebrate" in Zulu.) and, of course, many examples of vuvuzelas. (Vuvuzelas are the horns which are the source of that pervasive mosquito-like drone which has, for better or for worse, become the soundtrack for every match in the 2010 World Cup.)

South African Souvenir Glasses,
A Vuvuzela-blowing Puppet Representing Brazil,
And At Rear A Beautiful Handbeaded Vuvuzela.

The Melville J. Herkovits Library has already created an in-house exhibit of soccer related items, called Africana Celebrates the World Cup. (Photographs of many of the items are available online from the Library's Facebook page.) "Our mandate is to collect anything that relates to Africa, and this is an important event. It's the first time the World Cup is being played on African soil. And so many people in Africa play soccer. It is something anyone can afford to play," noted Esmeralda M. Nkweta Kale, the library's bibliographer of Africana. Kale's home country is The Republic of Cameroon, and it is well represented in the collection, as are all African teams in the tournament, and even non-African countries participating in the event.

The Official World Cup Jersey Of Team Cameroon,
Nicknamed Les Lions Indomptables.

And the end of the World Cup won't be the end of the collection. Items from enthusiasts around the globe will continue to be added to the institution's documentation of this historic African milestone. Let's just hope they keep those vuvuzelas in a locked case. Or at least tell visitors that horn-blowing may be acceptable at the stadium, but nobody wants that unceasing wail to become the soundtrack of the Melville J. Herskovits Africana Library.
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