Guinée

1925 · 76682 — Australia: N.p. ca. 1925. Real Picture Postcard 5 1/2 x 3 1/2 inches with no border and a stamp box that dates it to the early 1920s Kodak diamond Austral. Upper left corner with a small ben. Very good condition.THis is a well known image of a New Guinea headhunter in his native garb and with an extravagant headdress. He is holding a severed head in his right hand. It has been reprinted many times but according to sources it was first published in the 1920s making this at least a very early if not the first iteration of this image. Interestingly it bears an inscription although with no address and no stamp so it was never mailed reading - "March 11. These are wild New Guinea headhunters. They killed two missionaries last month. C. C. Batchelder."Charles C. Batchelder was a well traveled and learned person. Although most famous as a lecturer he held prestigious appointments such as the Acting Commercial Attaché in China the United States Trade Commissioner in India Acting Secretary of the Interior of the Philippines Acting Chief of the Far Eastern Division of the Department of Commerce and Economic Expert at the Disarmament Conference. He lectured at many universities in the United States and abroad and was once a lecturer on International Relations at the New York University Graduate School. N.p. unknown