Munich: C. H. Beck, 1903. 8vo, v + 362pp. Hardcover with red lettering to spine, half-tone illustrated front board. With various illustrations and monochrome plates. Fold-out map at rear. Printed in the old German ‘Fraktur’ typeface. German text.
Franz Josef ("Franco") Seiner, Austrian journalist, traveller, politician and amateur scientist, came to South Africa in November 1899 as a journalist for the newspaper Grazer Tagblad and to fight as a volunteer against the British in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). He returned to Austria in September 1900 and, using the name Franco Seiner, described his war experiences in two popular books, published in 1902 and 1903. Around the beginning of 1903 he arrived in German South West Africa (now Namibia) to see the country and seek relief from tuberculosis. After landing at Swakopmund he first spent some time in Windhoek. In March he set out on a long journey to the Waterberg and eastern Hereroland, a region known as the Omaheke. Returning to Europe in June 1903 with his health restored, he described his journey in Bergtouren und Steppenfahrten im Hererolande (Mountain trips and steppe journeys in Hereroland; Berlin, 1904, 278 pp), a popularly written but informative description of the region. He also wrote an excellent description of the country he had visited for the journal Globus (1905), entitled "Der Omuramba Omatako und die Omatako-Berge". (https://www.s2a3.org.za/bio/Biograph_final.php)
Condition: Overall very good. Light rubbing and foxing to boards, light rubbing to spine, spots of light edgewear to boards, small tape stains to rear board. Light foxing to endpapers, pastedowns, first and last few pages, and to rear fold-out map. Small creases to fold-out map. Text, illustrations and plates are clean and clear. Well bound.
- Overall Condition: Very Good
- Size: 8vo
