Cape of Good Hope. Official Handbook. History, Productions, and Resources (1886)

Noble, John (ed) (Clerk of the House of Assembly)

Description:

This rare and sought-after book would repay its owner with restoration rather than repair. It is in three pieces held together by a clear plastic sleeve - (1) the multi-colour paper-board front cover, which is chipped but good, and paste-down, which is a lithographed advertisement for Wm Rawbone, "practical gun maker"; (2) back cover and plain endpapers, also in good condition, and 14 pp of advertisements; and (3) the rest, a secure book-block (broken but not detached between sections G and H) of viii + 330 pp + frontispiece and 24 other inserted folding maps and illustrations, mainly in colour + several folding tables + 18 further pp of advertisements.

The book is complete. The frontispiece - a large folding panorama of the City of Cape Town and Table Bay in 1886 - is in two pieces; but all the other folding maps, plans and photographic and other inserts are in position and undamaged.

The book is a rare treasure-house. Apart from the finely drawn maps and plans and the other excellent illustrations, the text itself is perhaps as authoritative as was possible for the time. Beween "Discovery and early history" and "Statistics - population, revenue, commerce and customs tariffs" are chapters including "Cape woods and forests" by W Heywood; "The Cape as a health resort" by various medical doctors; "Diamond mining" by Theodore Reunert; "Land and agriculture" by W Spilhaus; "Ostrich farming" by A Douglass; "Viticulture" by Professor Hahn; and "Flora" by H Bolus.

 

Details:

  • Publisher: Saul Solomon for the Colonial and Indian Exhibition Committee
  • Publisher Place: Cape Town
  • Date of Publication: 1886
  • Edition: First
  • Binding Condition: Poor
  • Overall Condition: Fair but complete
  • Size: 220 x 145
  • Lot No: 133
  • Hammer Price: $53
  • Bids: 2
  • Visits: 31
  • Estimate: $250
  • Reserve: $50

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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.