Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #114 begins on 11 Apr 2024

Fitzpatrick (J. Percy)

THE TRANSVAAL FROM WITHIN

Published: William Heinemann, London, 1899

Edition: First edition 3rd impression

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A private record of public affairs.

First edition 3rd impression: [2 pages of press opinions] xiv, 440 pages, uncut edges with foxing, original blue cloth binding, slightly insect scarred, titled gilt on the spine, corners slightly bumped, a good copy.

Appendices A – H pages 369 – 440

From the verso of the title page: Written in August 1896
Privately circulated in June 1899
Supplemented and published September 1899
Second impression October 10,1899
Third impression October 16, 1899

The first public edition appeared in September 1899 and eight more impressions were required before the end of that year, the total number of copies sold being over 100,000.

In his South African Memories, London 1932, pages 109 & 111, Fitzpatrick writes, ‘The Transvaal from Within ‘was written from day to day in rough form and almost as a diary, while we were in Pretoria gaol or in the Arcadia Cottage under guard. It was roughly completed up to date by about August, 1896 and I had it printed privately some time after that and intended to circulate it privately among the Reformers and a few of our friends as a memorandum of the facts of the case.’

‘The commuted sentence of banishment (there being no appeal from Presidents Kruger’s own interpretations) decided me not to publish The Transvaal from Within until the three years had expired. In any case I thought no more of it than a diary or Apologia for private circulation among the reformers and intimates. A few of the first print were bound in covers, but without title, for my use and revision – the set type was kept in London for over three years. I have described elsewhere how a copy fell into Milner’s hands, and he advised me to publish the book as soon as possible.’

Mendelssohn (Sidney) South African Bibliography volume 1, page 549 -550: The author was a well-known man in Johannesburg, and had been deeply implicated in the Reform Movement, and was subsequently sentenced to imprisonment, accompanied by fine and banishment; the sentence, however, was commuted on the prisoner agreeing not to mix in the politics of the Republic for three years. Mr. Fitzpatrick employed some of this period of compulsory political silence in writing this volume, which is a comprehensive account of the politics of the Transvaal.

Ample evidence is produced with regard to the bad faith shown by President Kruger as to the terms under which the Reformers laid down their arms; and the publication of the negotiations between Coster, the State Attorney, and Wessels (who undertook the case of the prisoners), in order to procure the plea of guilty on their part, hardly serve to show the former in the light of an honest or truthful advocate. The work is so. full of important matter that it is impossible to give a resume which would not assume too great proportions, but it appears to have met with the approbation of all classes and sections outside the ranks of the extremists, and for all practical purposes it has encountered no detailed and effective answer.’

  • Overall Condition: A good copy
  • Size: 8vo (230 x150mm)
  • Sold By: Clarke's Africana & Rare Books
  • Contact Person: Paul Mills
  • Country: South Africa
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 021 794 0600
  • Preferred Payment Methods: Visa & Mastercard via PayGate secure links and Bank transfers.
  • Trade Associations: ABA - ILAB, SABDA


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