African Print Collection

For more than forty years as he researched and wrote 40 highly praised books on African American history, William Loren Katz traveled all over the world. In Europe, the Caribbean, Africa and the United States, his research also led him into print shops where his historian’s eye selected fascinating antique engravings of African scenes. These rare representations of African life date from the early sixteenth century to the late nineteenth century and are now offered for sale as the “African Print Collection.” (Continued below)

Sketched by European artists, the representations in the “African Print Collection” depict African village scenes during the 17th and 18th centuries, providing a rare look at the way people lived and worked, at African royalty and class distinctions, and at the myriad social roles undertaken by African men and women in various parts of the continent during the centuries.

They cast new light on African customs and mores and depict the way rulers conducted diplomacy and waged war. Most engravings show how ordinary people worked in crafts, farm labor and at various trades, how they managed family affairs, and how they viewed their monarchs and their lives. Most engravings in the “African Print Collection” are in black and white, but some are in color. For preservation more than a hundred images have been professionally mounted on 16″ by 20″ 2-ply museum board. Each board is in a polyethylene bag, and the collection is housed in a 16″ by 20′ acid free print box.

The “African Print Collection” recently acquired another hundred plus engravings—including stark contemporary representations of the infamous slave trade. The additions, many in color, dramatically enhance three centuries of the story of African peoples and deepen the substance of the continent’s cultural development. The total collection therefore currently amounts to two hundred and thirty engravings. Viewing by appointment only: e-mail contact [at] williamlkatz [dot] com