Nigel Pavitt – Kenya: A Country in the Making, 1880–1940 – First Edition, 2008 – 720 Historical Photographs – African Colonial History and Photography

PAVITT, NIGEL. KENYA: A COUNTRY IN THE MAKING, 1880–1940. FIRST EDITION, 2008. A MAJOR PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF KENYA, CONTAINING APPROXIMATELY 720 HISTORICAL PHOTOGRAPHS, MANY REPRODUCED FROM PRIVATE COLLECTIONS AND FAMILY ARCHIVES. FINE IN ORIGINAL DUSTWRAPPER.

Author: Nigel Pavitt.

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, New York, USA.

Date: 2008.

Edition: First edition.

Format: Large-format landscape hardback in original publisher’s cloth, with original photographic dustwrapper.

Pagination: xii, 303 pages.

Illustrations: Approximately 720 historical photographs, accompanied by detailed descriptive captions.

ISBN: 9780393067774.

Condition: Fine in a very good indeed original dustwrapper, slightly creased, nicked, faded and rubbed.

Stock Code: 004234.

Location: Bookroom.

Description

A particularly attractive first edition of Nigel Pavitt’s monumental photographic history, Kenya: A Country in the Making, 1880–1940, published by W. W. Norton in 2008. This substantial landscape-format volume brings together approximately 720 historical photographs documenting sixty years of extraordinary political, social, cultural and economic change in East Africa. The photographs have been selected from an extensive body of archival material, including private sources to present an exceptionally rich visual history of Kenya during the period from the late nineteenth century to the eve of the Second World War. Pavitt’s carefully selected photographs record African communities and their traditions, the development of colonial administration, the building of the Uganda Railway, agricultural settlement, hunting expeditions, the growth of towns and commercial centres, and the changing social relationships of a country undergoing profound transformation.

Kenya, 1880–1940: A Country in Transition

The period covered by this book was one of profound change in the history of Kenya. During the late nineteenth century, the region consisted of numerous African societies with established political, commercial and cultural traditions. Communities including the Kikuyu, Maasai, Luo, Kamba, Swahili and many others maintained distinctive systems of social organisation, agriculture, pastoralism and regional trade. The coastal settlements of East Africa had long-standing commercial and cultural connections with Arabia, Persia, India and the wider Indian Ocean world. European imperial expansion during the late nineteenth century transformed the political circumstances of the region. The establishment of the British East Africa Protectorate in 1895 marked an important stage in the extension of British colonial authority. In 1920, much of the protectorate became the Colony of Kenya, while the coastal strip retained a different constitutional status as a protectorate. The construction of railways, establishment of colonial administrative centres and expansion of European settlement significantly altered the landscape and economy. These developments were accompanied by land alienation, coercive labour policies, restrictions upon African communities and increasing resistance to colonial rule.

Pavitt’s photographs provide a fascinating record of these changes. They portray both the activities of colonial settlers and administrators and the lives of African communities whose histories were profoundly affected by the transformation.

Famous Personalities and the History of African Travel

The volume also includes photographs associated with several prominent figures connected with East Africa during the early twentieth century. Among the best known are Karen Blixen, Ernest Hemingway and Theodore Roosevelt.

Karen Blixen (1885–1962) lived in British East Africa between 1914 and 1931, operating a coffee farm near Nairobi. Writing under the name Isak Dinesen, she later published Out of Africa in 1937, one of the most celebrated literary accounts of colonial Kenya.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) visited East Africa during his celebrated Smithsonian–Roosevelt African Expedition of 1909–10. The expedition produced extensive zoological collections and contributed to the growing international fascination with African wildlife and exploration.

Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961) travelled to East Africa during the 1930s. His experiences contributed to Green Hills of Africa (1935) and several important works of short fiction.

The inclusion of these figures adds considerable interest for collectors of literary biography, African travel writing and the history of exploration. Pavitt’s photographs also record numerous less celebrated individuals whose activities contributed to the development of Kenya’s modern history.

Condition

Fine in a very good indeed original dustwrapper. The original publisher’s cloth binding is exceptionally clean and well preserved. The contents are clean and fresh, and the book presents as a carefully maintained example. The original photographic dustwrapper is in very good indeed condition, with slight creasing, minor nicking, some fading and rubbing. There is a little wear towards the upper edges and corners, visible in the accompanying photographs. The wrapper retains its attractive original photographic design and displays very well. A particularly pleasing first edition of this substantial photographic history.

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