FIRST STEPS OF THE ZULU MISSION (OCT.1859) - DIOCESE OF NATAL

The first edition of this scarce book in which Colenso recounts his 1859 journey across Zululand to visit Mpande (the then Zulu King) and meet with Cetshwayo (Mpande's son and the Zulu King at the time of the Zulu War). 1860.  No. XXXIX of the series, 'Missions to The Heathen'. 12mo. 152pp. With 4 full page engravings. Bound in full calf with gilt titles on the spine and patterned endpapers. Laid in on a preliminarly blank flyleaf is a very early Cabinet type original photograph of the missionary William Ngidi who accompanied Colenso on this expedition, who features prominently in the book and whose image comprises one of the four engraved plates in the book. SABIB Vol. 1, Page 583. With fairly extensive contemporary marginal annotations in ink.  

Intermittent foxing which is mainly present on the plates and the pages adjacent to them. A few page corners are frayed. The original photograph is in very good condition as is the leather binding. Overall a good copy.

John William Colenso (24 January 1814 – 20 June 1883) was a Cornish cleric and mathematician, defender of the Zulu and biblical scholar, who was the first Bishop of Natal. He was a scholar of the Zulu language. As a churchman, he is now remembered for his theological views of the Bible, that set off intense controversy.

William Ngidi  was Colenso's assistant in translation and the study of the Zulu language in the 1850s and early 1860's and was the man who, together with Bishop John Colenso, translated the bible into isiZulu. He also was responsible (again together with Bishop John Colenso) for the first ever Zulu - English Dictionary which was published in 1905. Miraculously, his name was not mentioned in the dictionary and only Bishop Colenso was credited.