THE ANNALS OF NATAL 1495-1845 (1888) - an exceedingly scarce set of the original separately published parts

Publisher's original stapled wraps.

The following is printed on the inside of the front wrap of each part, "Title Page and Index will be issued on Completion of the Work". This indicates that, upon completion of Bird's work, the publisher intended to bind all the parts into a single volume, which was indeed the case, except that it ended up as a two-volume set due to its size. 

It is exceedingly uncommon to find the original issues in unbound state. SABIB indicates that there were XX parts in total. I assume the final part would have been the title page and index, as indicated in each separate issue. SABIB records that part XX also contained the preliminary pages of the complete bound volumes I & II.

This is a complete set of 19 parts, but without part 20. SABIB records that the only complete set is to be found at the University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg. The only other two institutions that have original copies in their holdings are the Natal Archives Depot & the Natal Society Library (both in Pietermaritzburg), and theirs are incomplete, having only parts 1, and 4-9. 

There is occasional foxing on the prelims and wraps of some issues. The publisher's staples have oxidized due to age but are still holding fairly well. The issue containing Parts 18 & 19 has paper reinforcement on the spine. Overall still a good set regardless of the inevitable age-associated blemishes.

PART I: Pages 1-17 "Introductory Notes on the Compilation of the Annals of Natal". Section One: Pages 19-64

PART II: Pages 65-128

PART III: Pages 129-192

PART IV: Pages 193-229. Section Two: Pages 230-256

PART V: Pages 257-320

PARTS VI & VII (bound in one): Pages 321-448

PARTS VIII & IX (bound in one): Pages 449-458. Section Three: Pages 459-576

PARTS X & XI (bound in one): Pages 577-704

PARTS XII & XIII (bound in one): Pages 705-732 (being the end of volume I). Section Four: Pages 1-96

PARTS XIV & XV (bound in one): Pages 97-152. Section Five: Pages 153-224

PARTS XVI & XVII (bound in one): Pages 225-352

PARTS XVIII & XIX (bound in one): Pages 353-484 (being the end of volume II).

'The contents of the volumes embrace the period between the discovery of the country by Vasco da Gama, and the formal establishment of Natal as a British Colony in 1845. Mr. Bird's connection with the Government, which extended over a period of nearly forty years, placed him "in frequent intercourse with influential men among the emigrant Boers," and he states in a letter to the Hon. Secretary of the Natal Society (a copy of which is reproduced in the work), "the details of their adventures were familiar to me . . . I was also personally acquainted with some of the English who had come to the country before the advent of the African-Dutch. Thus, in seeking for records, I had a guidance, the want of which would have made the search more difficult." The introductory notes give a short sketch of the history of the country, which serves "to render intelligible an explanation, that seems in some instances indispensable, of the sources from which the record of the Annals have been derived." These include extracts from Government reports and correspondence, Cape Town newspapers, Moodie's Records, the posthumous papers of Mr. Fynn, and quotations from nearly every writer dealing with Natal from the earliest times. There is a copious index to each volume, which throws much light on the compilation, and the record, which is entirely unaccompanied by any expressed opinions of the compiler, is of the greatest value as a thoroughly unbiased and accurate production. Mr. Theal states "This work has been very carefully and faithfully executed by Mr. Bird...I know of no English document of importance that is not included in it, and of very few Dutch. It is a work of permanent value for historical purposes." ' - Mendelssohn Vol.I, page 126.