Adventures in the World of Books
The Return of the Gods
The Sacred Art of Susanne Wenger
by Ulli Beier
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju
Compcros
Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems
"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"
I had first seen it at the then Bendel Library near Eghosa Grammar School in Benin and was so enchanted by it,I copied out a significant portion by hand. I am not sure now if it was available for borrowing, because I don't remember ever borrowing it. Getting photocopies done then was cumbersome and one was not sure of quality photocopying, so copying out parts of the book by hand was both practical and a form of devotion to the glory of the revelation the text represented.
I eventually bought my own copy but when I became a Born Again Christian in about 1993, I burnt it on the advice of my Christian mentor, along with all that belonged to my relatively significant library of non-Christian literature, an experience which I look back at now, not with regret, but with the sense of its being part of my journey, since that stage of my life was helpful in achieving equilibrium after about two to three years of dedicated, daily meditative and magical work, three times a day in different religions, leading to results I was having difficulty coping with. Being Born Again and burning all texts that related to that life was a measure, which though of limited value in the long run and unsustainable eventually, may be seen as having some meaning in the scheme of things represented by the flow of my life.
Since one cannot deny the nature of one's soul, I eventually began to reacquire the books I had burnt.
That day on the 1st of April, 2000, having made my regular pilgrimage to the Oba Market, past food sellers and possibly puddles on the ground if it had rained, I had reached the precious zone where the books were displayed, one of the most important book purchasing centres in Benin, irreplaceable by the bookshops on Mission Road, the various bookshops on Ring Road, the American Bookshop after Ring Road and the University of Benin bookshop at Ugbowo. For a full selection of the best books available in Benin, one had to visit the market, after making the rounds of all those other bibliophilic centres, and see for oneself the latest offerings in the open air bookstands beside the assortment of food and other items being offered by other traders.
It was Ulli Beier's The Return of the Gods : The Sacred Art of Susanne Wenger. It's striking dust jacket, with its superb photography, intact, hardback, in excellent condition. Wonderful pictures. Splendid text, superbly written. A landmark in publishing history in African art and religions, the best introduction to the work of one of the greatest religious thinkers in history, Susanne Wenger.
On no account must I let the bookseller know this book is priceless or he could raise the price, the books here being unmarked and the eventual price being settled by haggling between customer and bookseller.
So, with my heart thumping in anticipation but keeping myself calm, I assume a nonchalant air and ask- "how much is this?"
I eventually walk away with the book for 100 naira. Acquiring something priceless at almost no cost.
The book proves vital to my MA dissertation at the University of Kent in 2004, in which I compare Wenger's art and thought with that of the English landscape visionary artist Katherine Maltwood and was awarded a very satisfying A by cosmologist Angela Voss.
That success led to my expanding the project for a PhD.
On searching online for the book in the mid 200s, I saw that its rarity had driven up its price. At one time it seemed to sell for £200.
That last time I saw it on sale was in 2012 at the Oxfam Bookshop on Bridge Street in Cambridge for about £40-60.
I was asked why a second-hand book should cost so much.
The bookseller explained that the Internet price of the book had determined their pricing, and anyway, the book should not be in the open shelves where I had noticed it. She placed it behind glass in a special cabinet, where rare books are kept and from where afficionados may request to have them brought out to be perused.
So, that it is my story of the various encounters with one book, from the then Bendel State Library in Benin-City, to the Oba market in the same city, to online booksellers and eventually to the Oxfam Bookshop on Bridge Street in Cambridge.
A search on Bookfinder shows the cheapest price for an old copy, with postage and packing, to be £41.42, the highest price to be £291.54 and for a new copy to be £275.41 and £286.29, while my 100 naira copy, not more than £1.00, from Oba Market in Benin, sits contentedly in my library.
Inspired by the tradition of Walter Benjamin's famous "Unpacking My Library" where he describes his life as a bibliophile as that of a general who surveys and strategises each new city he enters into in relation to the books that may be captured in its various bookselling locations.
Compcros
Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems
"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"
Compcros
Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems
"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"
Compcros
Comparative Cognitive Processes and Systems
"Exploring Every Corner of the Cosmos in Search of Knowledge"
You received this message because you are subscribed to the "USA-Africa Dialogue Series" moderated by Toyin Falola, University of Texas at Austin.
For current archives, visit http://groups.google.com/group/USAAfricaDialogue
For previous archives, visit http://www.utexas.edu/conferences/africa/ads/index.html
To post to this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to USAAfricaDialogue-
unsubscribe@googlegroups.com
No comments:
Post a Comment