LAW AND AUTHORITY

IN A

NIGERIAN TRIBE

A STUDY IN INDIRECT RULE

BY

C. K. Meek

WITH A FOREWORD BY

LORD LUGARD

London

Oxford University Press

1937

First Edition

Cloth bound hardback book, no dust jacket, octavo size  (approx. 220mm tall).

pp.xvi + 372

Weight: 699g 

CONDITION DESCRIPTION:  GOOD - no dust jacket, hardcover book bound in original blue cloth stamped in gilt to spine, both panels with blind borders, blue top stain, lightly rubbed, light bumps to spine tips, cloth lightly soiled, front lower corner a bit “chewed”, a little spotting to fore & lower edges, hinges strong, binding firm, former owner’s bookplate on front pastedown, a little toning to endpapers, text block very clean & bright, folding map to rear in excellent order, a little foxed

Law and Authority in a Nigerian Tribe

THE Ibo people were for some centuries reputed to be the

most truculent and savage of West African tribes. Perhaps

that reputation was not rightly deserved, for it is clear that

there are unusually great obstacles to prevent a European

from arriving at a good understanding of these people.

A difficult language of many dialects, a lack of chiefs with any

real authority, a wide variety of strange religious and magico-religious beliefs, the still almost universal belief in witches,

the influence of many secret societies and sacred oracles, the

division of each community into age grades and the complication of etiquette and rules of proper behaviour as between

juniors and seniors; all these provide fruitful causes of

misunderstanding between European and native, and have

demanded an immense amount of patient and skilled investigation.

While he is careful to disclaim in the Introduction that his

work is in any way exhaustive of Ibo culture, Dr. Meek's book

is a monument of such patient and skilled investigation into

the customs and psychology of the Ibo people, and the author

never loses sight of the motive inspiring the new science of

applied anthropology, that of providing data which will help

Government to make the fullest use of native institutions as

instruments of better local administration.

The Ibo-speaking peoples are estimated to number four

million and are therefore one of the largest tribes in Africa.

Please see photographs for full CONTENTS pages.

First Edition, 1937.

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