Handbook for Farmers in South Africa (3 vols; 1957)

Department of Agriculture, Pretoria

Description:

This was the famous and massive three-volume handbook offered to farmers 53 years ago from the relevant government department - at a price including postage of three guineas a set! The agriculture minister of the time, S P le Roux, was said to have driven the project personally. It runs to almost 2500 pages and includes a score of fold-out maps and diagrams. This was a once-off benefit for the farmers agricultural colleges and libraries of the day as, perhaps for cost reasons, the volumes were neither revised nor reprinted.

Vol 1 covers Agriculture and Related Services; Vol 2 Agronomy and Horticulture; and Vol 3 Stock Farming and Pastures.

The brown leathercloth boards are lightly rubbed at the top and bottom of the spine interface with the cover. Except for two small between-section gaps in Vol III, binding is firm and clean. There is a dedication sticker on the front free endpaper. There are no other marks and there are no pages or inserts missing or loose.

This is a set for a serious Southern African farmer who is not fortunate enough to already own one.

 

Details:

  • Publisher: Department of Agriculture
  • Publisher Place: Pretoria
  • Date of Publication: 1957
  • Edition: First
  • Binding Condition: Very Good
  • Overall Condition: Very Good
  • Size: 250 x 165 x 150 (weight: 4.7 kg)
  • Lot No: 60
  • Hammer Price: $168
  • Bids: 7
  • Visits: 150
  • Estimate: $250
  • Reserve: $120

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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.