  We present B and I photometry for ~300 globular cluster candidates in NGC
1379, an E0 galaxy in the Fornax Cluster. Our data are from both Hubble Space
Telescope (HST) and ground-based observations. The HST photometry (B only) is
essentially complete and free of foreground/background contamination to ~2 mag
fainter than the peak of the globular cluster luminosity function. Fitting a
Gaussian to the luminosity function we find <B> =24.95+-0.30 and \sigma_B =
1.55+-0.21. We estimate the total number of globular clusters to be 436+- 30.
To a radius of 70 arcsec we derive a moderate specific frequency, S_N=3.5 +-
0.4. At radii r~ 3-6 kpc the surface density profile of the globular cluster
system is indistinguishable from that of the underlying galaxy light. At r
\ltsim 2.5 kpc the profile of the globular cluster system flattens, and at r
\ltsim 1 kpc, the number density appears to decrease. The (B-I) colour
distribution of the globular clusters (from ground-based data) is similar to
that for Milky Way globulars, once corrected for background contamination. It
shows no evidence for bimodality or for the presence of a population with
[Fe/H]\gtsim -0.5. Unlike in the case of larger, centrally located cluster
ellipticals, neither mergers nor a multiphase collapse are required to explain
the formation of the NGC 1379 globular cluster system. We stress the importance
of correcting for background contamination: the colour distribution of
background galaxies is strongly peaked slightly bluer than the peak of a
typical globular cluster distribution. This can create the impression of skewed
colour distributions, or bimodality where none exists.

Astrophysics