Die Siel van die Mier (first edition, 1934)

As well as being rare and collectable, this book, in its original Afrikaans, is famous for its foreword, in which Eugene Marais summarises the proven charge that the noted Belgian writer Maurice Maeterlinck had plagiarised Marais\'s work. Maeterlinck had published, originally in French but also in English \"The life of the white ant\" as his own research. The substance of Marais\'s studies had first appeared in South African publications including \"The Star\" and \"Huisgenoot\" well before this time and had apparently found their way to Maeterlinck. This first edition of Marais\'s own book was published shortly after the leading English psychological journal \"Psyche\" had concluded in its Vol XIII of 1933 that \"There cannot be any doubt whatever about Eugene Marais\' priority.\" Marais had submitted the facts to the journal so that if he were to publish his work in book form he would not himself be accused of plagiarising Maeterlinck, who was then at the height of his reputation.

This is a collectable copy. The grey cloth-boards, green to all three faces, are unworn and fine. The binding, which includes head and tail bands, has loosened slightly. The free endpapers are lightly sunned. There is an owner\'s name, possibly in pencil, on the front free leaf. The untrimmed bottom page edges are foxed and there are two or three small foxing spots in the text itself. On the other hand, the frontispiece, the three other inserted plates and the 182 pp of text and line drawings are unmarked and undiscoloured, making this a desirable copy.