£500
INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR, 8vo, pp. xii, 102, [2]. Original quarter green cloth, russet boards, green-printed paper label to spine. Scattered spotting, particularly to first and last leaves. Boards a little marked, lightly sunned, label chipped. Inscribed by Naidu to Elizabeth Johnson to flyleaf, ‘Cape Town 1932’.
A signed poetical work by Indian poet, activist and politician Sarojini Naidu (1879-1949). She became the first female president of the INC in 1925 and was instrumental in their support of women's suffrage from 1918. She was a friend and confident of Gandhi, who called her 'The Nightingale of India' for her poetic and oratorical talents, and she marched with him on the 1930 Salt March, deputising for him in the following occupation of the Dharasana salt-works, leading the Satyagraha following his arrest. Following independence she was appointed Governor of United Provinces, becoming the first female Governor in India in the process. The recipient of this copy is almost certainly South African author and dairy farmer Elizabeth Jonsson, whose name was presumably misspelled by the poet; the book later belonged to one of Jonsson's descendants.
The Bird of Time is Naidu's second collection of poetry, initially published in 1912. Signed works are rare in trade.
