The Trader King of Damaraland Axel Eriksson

A Swedish Pioneer in Southern Africa. 

A photograph among old family papers showing a man said to be the "brother of Axel Eriksson, the man who donated all the birds to the museum in the town - a completely unique collection of around 1,000 birds from south-western Africa - was the start of 20 years or research about a Swedish private colonial operation in southern Africa in the 19th century.

Here, Axel Eriksson turned out to have been of greater importance (for good and perhaps also for bad) for political and economic development, even greater than his better-known colleague, Charles John Andersson.

The author has made a couple of comprehensive round-trips in Namibia in Andersson and Eriksson's tracks, studied local archives, and interviewed researchers and people with knowledge about Axel Eriksson's life.

Softcover. English. Gamsberg Macmillan. 2007. ISBN: 9789991608518. 218 pages with black & white photographs. Good condition, name inside. Book No: 2501703