Brenthurst Library

Last updated
Brenthurst Library
Brenthurst Library
26°10′17″S28°02′38″E / 26.171307278804512°S 28.043967605489623°E / -26.171307278804512; 28.043967605489623
Location Parktown, Johannesburg, South Africa
Established1984
Other information
Website https://www.brenthurst.org.za/

The Brenthurst Library is a private repository of Africana in Parktown, Johannesburg built by Harry Oppenheimer in 1984 as he started to disengage from the family's mining interests. [1] It houses a collection of some 20,000 volumes, [2] including rare manuscripts and documents. Among these were the only complete record of the proceedings of the treason trial of Nelson Mandela, [3] until the papers were handed over to the Mandela estate in November 2008. [4]

Contents

The Brenthurst Library collection focuses mainly on the southern African region with most of the materials created from the 16th century until the 21st century. The collection consists of art, books & pamphlets, manuscripts, maps, and photographs. [5] One of the oldest items in the collection was published in approximately 1488. The book, an incunabulum, records exploration routes down the West African coast discovered by Portuguese explorers. [6] The manuscript collection is diverse and contains materials such as: letters, title deeds, press clippings and company records. There is also a wide range of people represented with materials from soldiers, politicians, explorers, to musicians. There are many important letters and correspondents about South African Wars. One of the collection’s most famous letters is from Leo Tolstoy to Mohandas Gandhi. [7] The map collection consists of nautical charts, manuscript maps, and decorative engraved maps. Most of the maps in the collection are from the early half of the 17th century. All of the maps are related to Africa, southern Africa, and South Africa. The collection also holds the first known map representing the African continent. [8] The photograph collection houses films, postcards, photographs, stereographs, and lantern slides. The works were taken by amateur and professional photographers that captured important South African places and events. The oldest photograph in the collection is a portrait of Thomas Baines created by using the salted paper method. [9]

A permanent exhibition is a 6-panaled mural entitled, The Bridge. The piece was commissioned by H. F. Oppenheimer from an Australian artist, Leonard French, for the opening of the new building in 1984. The mural does not depict one event, but represents the fractured nature of the human condition and society of the time in South Africa. [10] In 2023, the Oppenheimer family moved their collection from the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG) to the Brenthurst Library. [11] The collection had been on permanent loan to the JAG since the mid-1980s. However, the building conditions have deteriorated significantly in recent years. [12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Obituary in The Guardian
  2. ↑ Johannesburg News
  3. ↑ Statement by the Ministry of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, 27 July 1998
  4. ↑ Xinhuanet
  5. ↑ "The Collections". The Brenthurst Library. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  6. ↑ "Book and Pamphlet Collections". The Brenthurst Library. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  7. ↑ "Manuscript Collection". The Brenthurst Library. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  8. ↑ "Map Collection". The Brenthurst Library. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  9. ↑ "Photograph Collection". The Brenthurst Library. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  10. ↑ "The Bridge". The Brenthurst Library. Retrieved 2022-11-28.
  11. ↑ Oppenheimers save African art from crumbling Johannesburg Art Gallery Business Live. 22 June 2023
  12. ↑ Evans, Julia (2022-03-31). "PICTURE OF DECAY: Once vibrant Joburg Art Gallery is crumbling into ruin". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2022-04-26.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Oppenheimer</span> South African businessman (1908–2000)

Harry Frederick Oppenheimer was a prominent South African businessman, industrialist and philanthropist. Oppenheimer was often ranked as one of the wealthiest people in the world, and was considered South Africa's foremost industrialist for four decades. In 2004 he was voted 60th in the SABC3's Great South Africans.

The Rivonia Trial is a trial that took place in apartheid-era South Africa between 9 October 1963 and 12 June 1964, after a group of anti-apartheid activists were arrested on Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia. The farm had been the secret location for meetings of uMkhonto we Sizwe (MK), the newly-formed armed wing of the African National Congress. The trial took place at the Palace of Justice, Pretoria, and led to the imprisonment of Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki, Ahmed Kathrada, Denis Goldberg, Raymond Mhlaba, Elias Motsoaledi, Andrew Mlangeni. Many were convicted of sabotage and sentenced to life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandton</span> Area in Gauteng province, South Africa

Sandton is an area in the northern part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Formerly an independent municipality, Sandton's name came from the combination of two of its suburbs, Sandown and Bryanston.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Bizos</span> Greek-South African lawyer (1927–2020)

George Bizos was a Greek-South African human rights lawyer who campaigned against apartheid in South Africa. He was noted for representing Nelson Mandela during the Rivonia Trial. He instructed Mandela to add the qualification "if needs be" to his trial address, which is credited with sparing him from a sentence of death. Bizos also represented the families of anti-apartheid activists killed by the government, throughout the hearings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ahmed Kathrada</span> South African politician (1929–2017)

Ahmed Mohamed Kathrada, sometimes known by the nickname "Kathy", was a South African politician and anti-apartheid activist.

Anthony Terrell Seward Sampson was a British writer and journalist. His most notable and successful book was Anatomy of Britain, which was published in 1962 and was followed by five more "Anatomies", updating the original book under various titles. He was the grandson of the linguist John Sampson, of whom he wrote a biography, The Scholar Gypsy: The Quest For A Family Secret (1997). He also gave Nelson Mandela advice on Mandela's famous 1964 defence speech at the trial which led to his conviction for life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitution Hill, Johannesburg</span> Building in South Africa

The Constitution Hill precinct is located at 11 Kotze Street in Braamfontein, Johannesburg near the western end of the suburb of Hillbrow. Constitution Hill is the seat of the Constitutional Court of South Africa.

Rivonia is a suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Sandton area. It is located in Region E of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. Rivonia is one of the most affluent residential and business suburbs of Johannesburg, and regarded as the hub of upstart and established I.T. companies. The main retail thoroughfare in the area, Rivonia Boulevard, is the location of several shopping complexes as well as many other shops and restaurants. The area known as Rivonia includes the original township of Edenburg, Edenburg Extension 1, and 19 smaller extensions designated 'Rivonia Extension ...', numbered from 0 to 25. There is no designated township called Rivonia. The post code for Rivonia is 2128.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MuseuMAfricA</span> Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa

Museum Africa or MuseuMAfricA is a historical museum in Newtown, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Quartus de Wet was a South African judge who served as Judge President of the Transvaal Provincial Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johannesburg Art Gallery</span> Art Museum in Joubert Park, Johannesburg

The Johannesburg Art Gallery is an art gallery in Joubert Park in the city centre of Johannesburg, South Africa. It is the largest gallery on the continent with a collection that is larger than that of the Iziko South African National Gallery in Cape Town.

Brenthurst Gardens is a 45-acre (180,000 m2) private garden in Johannesburg, South Africa attached to Brenthurst Estate, the residence of the Oppenheimer family, led by Nicky Oppenheimer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liliesleaf Farm</span> 1960s safe house for African National Congress activitists

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award</span>

The Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award is awarded annually by the Oppenheimer Memorial Trust. It is considered the top award for research on the African continent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sandton (Gautrain station)</span>

Sandton is a metro station on the Gautrain rapid transit system in Sandton, Johannesburg. It opened to traffic on 8 June 2010 with service to OR Tambo International Airport.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Parktown mansions</span> Houses in Johannesburg, South Africa

The mansions of Parktown are an important part of the history of the city of Johannesburg. They were the homes of the Randlords, accountants, military personnel and other influential residents of early Johannesburg, dating back as early as the 1890s. The first of these mansions, Hohenheim was designed by Frank Emley and was built for Sir Lionel Phillips and his wife Lady Florence Phillips. The name Hohenheim had been used originally by Hermann Eckstein, one of the first Rand Lords to name his house after the place of his own birth. When Phillips became the head of Eckstein & Co, he moved in to Eckstein's house but due to the expansion of the city decided to build the new Hohenheim in an enviable site further from the mine workings. Sir Lionel Phillips was banished from the Republic for his involvement in the Jameson Raid. It is perhaps fitting that the next occupant of this famous house was none other than Sir Percy Fitzpatrick, the author of the best selling book 'Jock of the Bushveldt'. The house was demolished but a plaque remains in honor of this building.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Johannesburg, in the Gauteng province of South Africa.

"I Am Prepared to Die" is the name given to the three-hour speech given by Nelson Mandela on 20 April 1964 from the dock of the defendant at the Rivonia Trial. The speech is so titled because it ends with the words "it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die". The speech is considered one of the great speeches of the 20th century, and a key moment in the history of South African democracy.

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Arnott</span> South African sculptor and educator

Bruce Arnott was a South African sculptor, curator, educator and academic. He was a professor of Fine Arts at the University of Cape Town's Michaelis School of Fine Art.

Africana are materials such as books, documents, artifacts, or artistic or literary works of any of the nations of Africa which reflect on the geographical, historical, or cultural development of Africa.

References

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.