Official Souvenir and Guide of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway, Cape Town (First Official Guide Book, 1929)

Pictorial Wraps. Softcover. 64pp. Illustrations and contemporary adverts in profusion. Neat, clean condition.

Construction on the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway started with the concrete work for the lower station in December 1927. Construction on the upper station commenced in June of the following year, and the restaurant was completed a short while later. Service began on 4 October 1929.

This was the first published guide book of the Table Mountain Aerial Cableway. In its introduction it contains a short early history of the scheme, a description of the mountain and the route, and a description of the different sights to be seen from the mountain top, which include:

Robben Island and Beyond, Dassen Island and Saldanha Bay (named after the historic personage who first climbed table Mountain), The Docks and Breakwater, Historic Signal Hill, Lion's Head, Camps Bay, Bakoven, Oude Kraal and Llandudno, Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope.

The guide also contains sections on: Popular Climbing Routes, Rambles on the Mountain, Climbers in the Early Days, The First Climber, The Flora, Safety on the Mountain, as well as a short story about the Legend of the Table Cloth. 

Apart from the many photographic views of Cape Town and surrounds, as seen from the mountain top, the guide also contains a multitude of contemporary adverts - with AGFA Cameras & Films enjoying prime advertising space on the rear panel.