Abiding Values by Henry Gluckman

Abiding Values (Signed & Inscribed Association Copy in Dust Jacket)

Speeches and Addresses of South Africa's Minister of Health under Smuts, Inscribed by the Author to the Governor of Rhodes

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Abiding Values: Speeches and Addresses
• Author: Henry Gluckman
• Publisher: Caxton Ltd., Johannesburg
• Publication Date: 1970
• Edition Details: Inscribed and signed by the author, Henry Gluckman, in Johannesburg, July 1974.
• Binding: Publisher's blue cloth boards with a dust jacket bearing a photographic portrait of the author.
• Physical Format: Octavo-sized hardcover, thick volume of over 500 pages. Illustrated in black and white.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: The plain blue cloth boards are clean, with only a few tiny light specks. Corners and spine are square and sound.
• Interior: The text block is tight, with clean, bright cream pages and lightly toned edges. The endpapers are lightly toned with faint creasing. No foxing or markings were seen beyond the author's inscription.
• Provenance: Signed presentation inscription from the author on the front free endpaper: "Johannesburg July 1974. To Dr H. A. Kendall, Governor of "Rhodes" as a token of admiration of your efforts on behalf of "Rhodes" - Henry Gluckman". No bookplates or stamps.
• The Dust Jacket: Present, with a photographic portrait of the author on the front and plain pale blue back and spine. The jacket shows honest wear: scuffing and scratches to the front, a chipped and torn area at the lower front corner and edge, small chips at the spine foot, and some toning. It is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Abiding Values: Speeches and Addresses collects the public utterances of Dr Henry Gluckman, physician and United Party politician, who served as Minister of Health in the cabinet of J C Smuts. The speeches range across university education, nursing and the national health services, and reflect the concerns of a liberal-minded doctor in public office.

The volume reproduces the report of the National Health Services Commission of 1942 to 1944, which Gluckman chaired. The commission proposed free medical care funded by a health tax. The scheme was not adopted, but it proved influential, and the book is cited in later histories of health policy in South Africa for its speeches on the Gluckman Report and the 1946 medical congress.

Published by Caxton in Johannesburg in 1970, this copy carries a presentation inscription from the author dated 1974 to Dr H. A. Kendall, Governor of Rhodes, which adds a personal association to a useful primary source on South African public health and the Smuts era.

Author Profile: Henry Gluckman

Dr Henry Gluckman (1893 to 1987) was born in Žagarė and died in Johannesburg. A physician by training, he entered politics as United Party Member of Parliament for Yeoville from 1938, aligning with the party's liberal wing. He served as Minister of Health from 1945 to 1948 and is recorded as the first Jewish cabinet minister in South Africa.

Earlier, he chaired the National Health Services Commission of 1942 to 1944, whose proposals for a national health service, though never adopted, shaped later debate on health policy in South Africa.