Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #114 begins on 11 Apr 2024

Green, Lawrence G

A collection of first editions of all 33 titles published by Howard Timmins between 1945 and 1974, including one deliberate duplicate and two copies signed by the author

Published: Howard Timmins, Cape Town, 1945-1974

Edition: Firsts

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Born in 1900, Lawrence Green spent most of his adult life as a wandering researcher and reporter, especially of all things African - politics and war generally excepted. He graduated from writing for the Cape Town newspaper his father edited to authoring his own books, of which, except for the war years and 1953, he published one a year between until his death in 1972.

He travelled more than a million kilometres in search of his material. As well as his many overland and coastal journeys, he travelled first-class for many years in Union Castle liners, mainly the mailships between Cape Town and Southampton, planning his next book on the outward leg and starting to write it on the return leg. Much of his time in England was spent at the British Museum, where perhaps half of the almost seven hundred stories in his books were researched.

Between the covers of the 33 books published by Timmins are nearly nine thousand pages and some six hundred photographs - many taken by himself and a few of himself – as well as original and historical drawings.

The 116 pp of indexes added value for his many thousands of regular readers in his lifetime as well as for the generations of readers rediscovering his work forty years after his death.

Few libraries or secondhand bookshops are without some of his books, but equally few have complete or near-complete sets. The present lot therefore gives new collectors an opportunity to acquire a complete and mainly original set that includes some rare and high-priced items. Two of the copies are signed.

The list is in the order in which the author wrote his books. The first six titles were published in England before the second world war and republished by Timmins in the 1970s.

All the titles listed are first Timmins editions. All are mylar protected. Unless otherwise stated, all are in very good or better condition and all have very good or better dustjackets.

Four books are listed without dustjackets: these jackets are generally obtainable only in facsimile.

On request, the seller will provide further information or images.

1. 1933 The Coast of Treasure (1973, first Timmins edition)

2. 1935 Great African Mysteries (1973, first Timmins edition)

3. 1936 Secret Africa (1974, first Timmins edition)

4. 1937 The Coast of Diamonds (the only book of all the 33 with no illustrations or index) (1973, first Timmins edition)

5. 1938 Strange Africa (1974, first Timmins edition)

6. 1940 Old Africa Untamed (1974, first Timmins edition)

7. 1945 Where Men Still Dream (two copies: one is a fair to good copy of the first edition without dustjacket and the other is a 1956 fifth edition with dustjacket: although this edition is claimed to have been \"completely revised with much new material\", it has fewer pages (228 compared with 280, but with smaller type); there are however six more illustrations

8. 1946 So Few Are Free (no jacket)

9. 1947 Tavern of the Seas

10. 1948 To the River\'s End

11. 1949 In the Land of the Afternoon

12. 1950 At Daybreak for the Isles (no jacket)

13. 1951 Grow Lovely Growing Old

14. 1952 Lords of the Last Frontier

15. 1954 Under a Sky Like Flame (jacket condition good)

16. 1955 Karoo

17. 1956 There\'s a Secret Hid Away (jacket condition good)

18. 1957 Beyond the City Lights (jacket condition good+)

19. 1958 South African Beachcomber

20. 1959 These Wonders to Behold (book condition good+)

21. 1960 Eight Bells at Salamander (jacket condition fair to good)

22. 1961 Great North Road (no dustjacket)

23. 1962 Something Rich and Strange (dustjacket condition fair to good)

24. 1963 A Decent Fellow Doesn\'t Work

25. 1964 I Heard the Old Men Say (SIGNED BY AUTHOR) (jacket condition good)

26. 1965 Almost Forgotten, Never Told

27. 1965 Thunder on the Blaauwberg

28. 1967 On Wings of Fire

29. 1968 Full Many A Glorious Morning (jacket condition good+)

30. 1969 Harbours of Memory (book good+)

31. 1970 A Giant in Hiding (jacket condition good+)

32. 1971 A Taste of South-Easter (SIGNED BY AUTHOR)

33. 1972 When the Journey\'s Over (published posthumously with a pasted-in errata and acknowledgment slip)

  • Jacket Condition: See description
  • Binding Condition: Mostly Very Good
  • Overall Condition: Mostly Very Good
  • Size: All 220 x 150 except item 31 235 x 160; shelf space 106 cm; approx weight 18 kg
  • Sold By: Fontein Books
  • Contact Person: Richard Proctor-Sims
  • Country: South Africa
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 051 773 0050/048 079 546 4032
  • Preferred Payment Methods: Eft (South Africa), SWIFT (rest of world), or $ checks for US or Australian buyers
  • Trade Associations: AA Approved


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