Looking on Darkness – André P. Brink

Looking on Darkness – André P. Brink

Looking on Darkness (Premier Literary Association Copy: Dedicated from Brink to Herman Giliomee)
A Monumental Piece of South African Literary History Linking Two Iconic Intellectuals

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Looking on Darkness
• Author: André P. Brink
• Publisher: William Morrow & Company, New York
• Publication Date: 1974 (First US Edition)
• ISBN-10: 0688029249
• Edition Details: First US Edition, Hardcover Release. Hand-signed and inscribed by André Brink to the legendary historian Herman Giliomee on the preliminary and title pages.
• Binding: Original publisher's cloth-backed hard boards, issued with a pictorial dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 400 pages.
• Language: English (Translated from the original Afrikaans by the author).

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good Plus (VG+)
• Exterior / Boards: The hardboards are straight, firm, and beautifully clean. Gilt title stamps remain bright and sharp.
• Interior: The text block is immaculate, tightly bound, and crisp white.
• Provenance: An extraordinary, museum-grade literary association piece. The first page features an authentic, heartfelt ink dedication from the author to the renowned historian Herman Giliomee: "Vir Herman, in die hoop op die lig anderkant die donker. André" followed by Brink’s complete, elaborate signature on the main title page.
• The Dust Jacket: Good (G)
• Condition Details: Now fully stabilized inside a brand-new archival plastic sleeve. Displays standard shelf wear and edge rubbing along the boundaries, with minor paper loss concentrated at the crown and foot of the spine panel. No major text distortion.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Looking on Darkness is the English translation of André Brink’s masterpiece Kennis van die Aand—the historic first Afrikaans novel to be officially banned by the South African apartheid government under the Publications Control Act. The novel follows Joseph Malan, a Coloured actor facing execution for the murder of his white lover, using his story to deliver a blistering critique of racial legislation and social hypocrisy.

This specific copy forms an extraordinary intellectual parallel: a deeply personal gift from Brink to Professor Herman Giliomee, one of South Africa's most influential political historians. Brink's inscription—"in the hope of light on the other side of darkness"—captures the shared anxiety and hope of two leading Afrikaner dissidents during the country's darkest political era.

Author and Association Profiles

• André P. Brink (1935–2015): A giant of South African literature and a leading figure in the Sestigers movement, Brink used his writing to challenge state censorship and apartheid policy, earning multiple nominations for the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• Herman Giliomee (b. 1938): A world-renowned South African historian, author, and former academic at Stellenbosch University. His monumental work, The Afrikaners: Biography of a People, remains the definitive historical analysis of Afrikaner political evolution.