Trail of the Copper King

An octavo, hardcover book (170x235mm) in the original yellow cloth on board publisher’s binding with titles, in red, to the front and slightly darker yellow spine in Good+ condition; in a price clipped, coloured pictorial dust-wrapper in Fair to Good condition. The first six pages are of a Preliminary nature and pages 7 to 239 are text. Copiously illustrated by A.A. Telford in black & white line drawings, chapter heading vignettes and a large decorative illustration on the title page. Map end-pages in ochre yellow with white drawings and lettering. Bookseller's label on bottom of front fixed end-paper

The book relates the story of Orlando Baragwanath who joined his family in the newly established Johannesburg, where his father had acquired a property at the junction of the roads from Kimberley and Bloemfontein. The property consisted of a few shacks and revelled in the name of the “Hotel Concordia”. The young Orlando was given very little cash remuneration but working there allowed him to meet a wonderful array of people, including some well known prospectors, such as French Bob. He soon found a series of more remunerative occupations and began saving for a prospecting trip and rambled all over the Rand trying to find out about geology and successful prospecting. He took part in the suppression of the Matabele uprising in 1899 and was prevented from prospecting by the Anglo-Boer War. Eventually, however, together with his friend Frank Lewis he traversed the untamed regions of Northern Rhodesia (now known as Zambia. The two men will always be remembered for their part in opening up the copper-belt, on behalf of the Northern Territories Exploration Company - an offshoot of Rhodes' British South Africa Company