Ian Ehling
Head of Department
Lot 167
A SIGNED COPY OF THE FREEDOM CHARTER OF SOUTH AFRICA. Printed broadside, The Freedom Charter, adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, on 26 June 1955, signed by the five adoptive Chairmen, Albert Luthuli, Leon Levy, Dr Monty Naiker, Jimmy Laguma, and Pieter Beyleveld,:
11 December 2020, 10:00 EST
New YorkUS$30,000 - US$50,000
Looking for a similar item?
Our Books & Manuscripts specialists can help you find a similar item at an auction or via a private sale.
Find your local specialistAsk about this lot
A SIGNED COPY OF THE FREEDOM CHARTER OF SOUTH AFRICA.
Printed broadside, The Freedom Charter, adopted at the Congress of the People, Kliptown, on 26 June 1955, signed by the five adoptive Chairmen, Albert Luthuli, Leon Levy, Dr Monty Naiker, Jimmy Laguma, and Pieter Beyleveld,: 430 x 295 mm, signed later, dated by Luthuli and Naiker, "24/1/1960," tear with loss to lower right hand corner, waterstain to corners on left hand side, centerfold.
Provenance: South African Congress of Democrats (red ink stamp to verso, with address); obtained by our consignor at a labor meeting, Durban, S.A., early-1960.
"THESE FREEDOMS WE WILL FIGHT FOR, SIDE BY SIDE, THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, UNTIL WE HAVE WON OUR LIBERTY."
VERY RARE SIGNED COPY OF SOUTH AFRICA'S "FREEDOM CHARTER," which Nelson Mandela notes "captured the hopes and dreams of the people and acted as a blueprint for the liberation struggle and the future of the nation" (Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, London, 1994).
The Freedom Charter was produced at the Congress of the People, which began at Klipton, Soweto, on June 26, 1955. Nelson Mandela, under banning orders at the time, watched from the edges of the crowd, risking arrest and a certain jail sentence to witness this historic event. The congress was looking to adopt a "Freedom Charter," which would encapsulate the aspirations of all South Africans, regardless of race. The gathering was abruptly interrupted by a police raid on June 27th, and the Charter itself used as evidence during the treason trial of 1956, when 156 South Africans were detained and tried for treason, including all five of the signers here. The Charter and its ideals however persisted, enshrined in the platform of the ANC, even in the face of its 1960 ban, and eventually many of its key statements were incorporated into the post-apartheid South African Constitution formally adopted in January 1997.
The charter stands as the statement of core principles for the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress, the National Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats, the Coloured People's Congress and the South African Trades Unions Congress. This copy is signed by the leaders of those five organziations:
Albert Luthuli, president of the African National Congress
Leon Levy, president of the South African Congress of Trades Unions
Dr Monty Naiker, president of the National Indian Congress
Jimmy Laguma, president of the South African Coloured Peoples Congress
Pieter Beyleveld, president of the South African Congress of Democrats
A watershed document in South African history, its existence was long shrouded in quasi-illegality, its creators persecuted, the Freedom Charter remains a foundational and eloquent testament to the struggle for freedom in South Africa, and an important contribution to the history of world movement for Civil Rights. This copy, signed by the leaders or the five major contributing groups, is an extremely rare example of an important survival.
Provenance: South African Congress of Democrats (red ink stamp to verso, with address); obtained by our consignor at a labor meeting, Durban, S.A., early-1960.
"THESE FREEDOMS WE WILL FIGHT FOR, SIDE BY SIDE, THROUGHOUT OUR LIVES, UNTIL WE HAVE WON OUR LIBERTY."
VERY RARE SIGNED COPY OF SOUTH AFRICA'S "FREEDOM CHARTER," which Nelson Mandela notes "captured the hopes and dreams of the people and acted as a blueprint for the liberation struggle and the future of the nation" (Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom, London, 1994).
The Freedom Charter was produced at the Congress of the People, which began at Klipton, Soweto, on June 26, 1955. Nelson Mandela, under banning orders at the time, watched from the edges of the crowd, risking arrest and a certain jail sentence to witness this historic event. The congress was looking to adopt a "Freedom Charter," which would encapsulate the aspirations of all South Africans, regardless of race. The gathering was abruptly interrupted by a police raid on June 27th, and the Charter itself used as evidence during the treason trial of 1956, when 156 South Africans were detained and tried for treason, including all five of the signers here. The Charter and its ideals however persisted, enshrined in the platform of the ANC, even in the face of its 1960 ban, and eventually many of its key statements were incorporated into the post-apartheid South African Constitution formally adopted in January 1997.
The charter stands as the statement of core principles for the South African Congress Alliance, which consisted of the African National Congress, the National Indian Congress, the South African Congress of Democrats, the Coloured People's Congress and the South African Trades Unions Congress. This copy is signed by the leaders of those five organziations:
Albert Luthuli, president of the African National Congress
Leon Levy, president of the South African Congress of Trades Unions
Dr Monty Naiker, president of the National Indian Congress
Jimmy Laguma, president of the South African Coloured Peoples Congress
Pieter Beyleveld, president of the South African Congress of Democrats
A watershed document in South African history, its existence was long shrouded in quasi-illegality, its creators persecuted, the Freedom Charter remains a foundational and eloquent testament to the struggle for freedom in South Africa, and an important contribution to the history of world movement for Civil Rights. This copy, signed by the leaders or the five major contributing groups, is an extremely rare example of an important survival.