THE PLACE OF THE ELEPHANT - A History of Pietermaritzburg (1981) - limited de luxe edition in slipcase

Limited De Luxe Edition. This is #23. SIGNED by the author.

Publisher's olive green skivertex binding with gilt titles on front panel and spine. Map dust jacket depicting Pietermaritzburg and surrounds. Housed in the publisher's original slipcase.

143pp. Illustrated with photographs and maps.

'Ruth Gordon has for some time been acknowledged as one of our leading local historians, whose deep love and concern for Pietermaritzburg and its past have invariably been channelled into action. Her latest venture is this highly informative and readable account of Maritzburg's history - from the early days of Piet Retief and his fellow-trekkers in 1837 to the present.

History, to Dr Gordon, means people rather than mere events, so her pages are vitalised by characters and personalities - and not just Lieutenant Governors and their elegant ladies. You'll encounter the Empress Eugenie, of course together with Shepstone, Colenso and Baynes: but you'll meet a host of other citizens too, who made - and left - their marks: 'Cockney' James; Dan Scott who built the theatre; the Froomberg family who ran the Carlton Bar; the sadistic Canon Nisbett who threatened the already precarious state of education in 1865 (and was worthy to have been the target of Dickensian wrath and ridicule).'