A new book containing more than 2,000 quotes from former South African President and apartheid icon Nelson Mandela was released Monday in Johannesburg.

The book, entitled Nelson Mandela by Himself, includes speeches, notebook entries and recorded conversations from the 27 years he spent in prison to his tenure as president that ended in 1999.

The book's editors, Sello Hatang and Sam Venter, say the former apartheid government of South Africa once declared it illegal to quote Mr. Mandela. Now, they say, he is among the most quoted people in the world.

The idea for the book came from the requests of thousands of researchers and organizations to verify the accuracy of Mr. Mandela's quotes. The editors say he has often been misquoted.

An advance copy of Nelson Mandela by Himself was presented to U.S. first lady Michelle Obama when she met with him on her recently-concluded southern African tour.