The Special Collections Book of the Week this week is:

The Realm of a Rain-queen: A Study of the Pattern of Lovedu Society by E. Krige and J.D. Krige.

Originally published in 1943 this book discusses the life and culture of the Lobedu or Balobedu a group within the Sotho-Tswana people. As well as discussing the Rain-Queen, much of the book is devoted to the royal institutions; the network of links woven by kinship, marriage and marriage cattle, the legal procedure of compromise and appeasement and various aspects of magic, witchcraft and religion. Considered as a whole, the culture emerges as a structure supporting and in turns supported by the Rain-Queen.

Catalogue Access: UnivofPretoria.on.worldcat.org/v2/oclc/219910787

This book is available at Special Collections, housed on level 5 of the Merensky 2 Library, and is part of our Africana (ZA) Collection.

The Special Collections unit of the Department of Library Services plays a stewardship role in the acquisition and preservation of the Library's rare and valuable information resources, making them accessible to students, staff and researchers, as well as safeguarding them for future generations.