Brenthurst Library

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. It houses a collection of some 20,000 volumes, including rare manuscripts and documents. Among these were the only complete record of the proceedings of the treason trial of Nelson Mandela, until the papers were handed over to the Mandela estate in November 2008. 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. 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. 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. The map collection consists of nautical charts, manuscript maps, and decorative engraved maps. Most of

Library data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).