ASHANTI LAW AND CONSTITUTION

The True First edition. Illustrated with142 black and white plates, including frontispiece. 8vo, publisher’s original dark red cloth, lettered and ruled in gilt with gilt publisher’s device on the spine. xii, 420, including index. An unusually fine and handsome copy. A RARE BOOK ON ANY ACCOUNT, IT IS REMARKABLY SO IN SUCH FINE CONDITION. This intriguing and unusual volume is an exhaustive study of the Ashanti legal customs and advocates that successful European rule of the African tribes (specifically the Ashanti) is grounded in an understanding of native beliefs and history. In the preface, the author (whose has completed this book under the direction of the British Anthropological Department) states that a balance must be struck between simply nominal British rule and a complete eradication of the "inspiration and vitality" of native culture and customs. Of particular interest is his consideration of the inseparability of native religion and law and its possibilities for adaptation: "It is necessary to urge that our religion be presented to the Africans, not in antagonism to, but as a fulfillment of, their aspirations. It implies not a paganization of Christianity for the purpose of making it easier to Africans, but the Christianization of everything that is valuable in the African’s past experience and registered in his customs" [preface]. This more enlightened and sympathetic view with its "knowledge is power" slant gives this volume a refreshing anthropological perspective on the colonial forces in Africa in the early 20th century. …