Boer War Memorabilia. The collectors' guide (inscribed by author; 1987)

Oosthuizen, Pieter, with the collaboration of Alan Peek

Description:

Apart from the invaluable and authoritative main text - which includes chapters on ceramics, model soldiers, glassware, stamps and covers, prisoner-of-war handicrafts, coins and notes, gold, silver and jewellery, tin and pewter, ephemera, textiles, and general collectables - the prelims are packed with information not easily found elsewhere, including a short but select bibliography and, especially, a chronologcal list of major Boer War events and an alphabetical reference of names and places.

The half-title carries the following interesting list: "The Boer War was also known as the Anglo-Boer War, the Crying War, the Freedom War, the Great Boer War, the Last Colonial War, the Second Anglo-Boer War, the Second Boer War, the South African Campaign, the South African War, the Transvaal Campaign and the Transvaal War." However and although the book is in English, the author might have added "Die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog" [the Second War of Freedom], which more than a century later remains the name preferred by historians and others writing from the Boer perspective. (See, for example, the monumental Lot 98 in the present auction.)

Oosthuizen's book is an incomparable work of reference.

The laminated photographic dustjacket, not price-clipped (35 pounds), is lightly rubbed at some extremities and there is a lamination crease-line at the front. The front paste-down had become detached from the case and needs to be reglued. There is an owner's signature on the front free endpaper and, on the title page, a later dedication, in Afrikaans, by the author to the same owner. The book's xxxvi + 239 pp of colour- and monochrome-illustrated text, prelims and index are on coated stock and are in pristine condition.

 

Details:

  • Publisher: The Alderman Press
  • Publisher Place: Edmonton (England)
  • Date of Publication: 1987
  • Edition: first
  • Jacket Condition: Very Good
  • Binding Condition: Good + (see description)
  • Overall Condition: Very Good
  • Size: 258 x 180
  • Lot No: 108
  • Hammer Price: $75
  • Bids: 1
  • Visits: 28
  • Estimate: $150
  • Reserve: $75

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Seller Details:

  • Name: Fontein Books
  • Address: 27 Voortrekker Street, Philippolis 9970
  • Contact Person: Richard Proctor-Sims
  • Country of Origin: South Africa
  • Email: fontein@wol.co.za
  • Website:
  • Preferred Payment Methods: Internet bank transfer or Visa or Mastercard
  • Trade Association: AA Approved
  • Additional Information: Fontein Books has for several years participated in Antiquarian Auctions and its predecessor. It specialises in historical and contemporary books on the Free State and Northern Karoo, and is also an active buyer and seller on commission in these and other fields. Fontein's owner, Richard Proctor-Sims, was an editor, writer and small publisher until 2005, when he moved from Johannesburg to Philippolis, the first settlement (1822) north of the Gariep or Orange River, where he opened his first physical bookshop (to which buyers and sellers are welcome), with reasonable holdings in Africana, both Anglo-Boer wars, biography, history, military history, natural history and travel. He regularly visits Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town and offers to deliver heavy or valuable books or sets to these cities on such visits. Richard Proctor-Sims retains the copyright of Fontein's Antiquarian Auction descriptions and these may not be reproduced without permission and acknowledgment.