Antiquarian Auctions

Auction #114 begins on 11 Apr 2024

John Campbell

TRAVELS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Published: Black, Parry & Co, London, 1815

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Third Edition, Corrected, 1815. The 1st and 2nd editions were also produced in 1815.

Neatly repaired spine. Original leather laid down on new leather backing. Half leather binding, marbled boards. The gilt lettering to the spine has worn off but the imprints of the letters remain in the leather. Binding tight and good. All pages and plates complete. Some off-set staining adjacent to plates, and some discolouring and foxing. Folding map (undamaged). Second ffe has a 1 cm tear at the top, also a small tear at the top of pp 131/132.

Frontispiece portrait of Campbell at Orange River. Frontispiece, folding map plus nine plates. Plates IV and V on same folding page. Pages [i-v]vi-xv[xvi] 1-400. Page 400 ends with directions to the binders.

This book (41 chapters) is an interesting and entertaining account of Campbell's travels and the people and places he visited in the early 19th century.

In 1812, on the death of Dr Van der Kemp, the London Missionary Society sent Campbell to inspect the settlements of the Society. He visited Stellenbosch, Genadendal and Caledon, where he enjoyed the hospitality of Michiel Vos (the Cape Silversmith turned church minister).

Later he went on to Bethelsdorp where he met Mr Read (Van der Kemp's successor) and together they travelled to Grahamstown and Graaf Reynet (sic). He met Burchell en route to the Orange River and the Northern Cape (Pella). On page 330 writing about Northern Namaqualand, he describes staying with the elderly Mrs Vandervesthuis in the Kamma mountains. The lady said she had given LeVaillant 'a good drubbing with a sambuck for speaking improperly of her daughters' when LeVaillant visited the area some years before. Appendix X has interesting ethnographic information about the Xhosa people, Madagascar and Mauritius in the early 19th century. Appendix VII has the Lord's Prayer in both Hottentot and Coranna languages. In Appendix XIII and XIV Campbell sharply criticises Lichtenstein's and Maria Graham's books in which they describe the situation in South Africa in 1812.

Reference: Mendelssohn's SA Bibliography (Mansell 1979) page 374.

  • Overall Condition: Very Good
  • Size: 220 x 130 x 26mm
  • Sold By: Pringle Bay Books
  • Contact Person: Neil Berens
  • Country: South Africa
  • Email: [email protected]
  • Telephone: 082 899 7195 or 083 652 5694
  • Preferred Payment Methods: Mastercard, VISA, and EFT
  • Trade Associations: SABDA


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