THE DIARY OF ERASMUS SMIT (Collector's edition)

Edited by H.F. Schoon

Translated by W.G.A. Mears

First edition: 186 pages + [3] pages index, frontispiece portrait, maps as end papers, full green leather binding, titled gilt on the upper cover and spine, which has now faded to brown, a good copy.

First edition: 186 pages + [3] pages index, frontispiece portrait, maps as end papers, full green leather binding, titled gilt on the upper cover and spine, which has now faded to brown, a good copy.

On the verso of the title page is a handwritten note signed by the publisher: Collector’s Edition. Only 5 copies made. This is no.2

Erasmus Smit was the first minister of the Voortrekkers . He was born on August 2, 1778 in Buiksloot near Amsterdam. He became a missionary in America in 1801 and arrived at the Cape in 1804 . He worked with Dr. JT van der Kemp at Bethelsdorp. After the Dutch Reformed Church refused to ordain him, he became a teacher. He married the sister of the Voortrekker leader Gerrit Maritz and became their unofficial minister, held regular services, performed marriages and accompanied the Trek to KwaZulu-Natal . His diary is an important document of the Great Trek. He settled in Pietermaritzburg where he died in 1863. https://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus_Smit