First Dutch edition: 2 volumes: Volume I xvii, 529, volume II iii, 449 (+ 89 page register or index), half title page in volume I, title page in volume I printed in red and black, added engraved title page in Volume I and an engraved portrait of Kolbe, a large folding map and 5 further double page maps, 46 copper engraved plates including a double page view of Table Mountain and plan of the Company Gardens, bound in quarter red roan leather made from unsplit sheepskin which is worn on the spine and all edges, leather title labels gilt on the spines, marbled paper sides which are worn at the corners and along the edges, cancelled ex-university library book plates on the front paste-down endpapers and a small stamp at top of the title page in volume II and a private collection book plates on the front free endpapers, page edges are uncut giving spacious margins, the text, maps and plates are clean and crisp, a very good copy.
Mendelssohn (Sidney) South African Bibliography, volume 1, pages 843/844: 'Exact and detailed description of the Cape of Good Hope, containing a very circumstantial account of the present state of that celebrated country, its settlements, harbour, fortress, form of government, extent, and the regions recently discovered in its vicinity ; together with an erudite description of the climate and soil of the territory ; of its animals, fishes, birds, plants, and herbs ; likewise of various prodigies of Nature discovered in the country ; to which is added a very accurately compiled account of the Hottentots from the author's own personal investigations followed by a remarkable report on their language, religion, manner of living, singular traditions, customs, marriage ceremonies, circumcisions, and education; also many other curious observations concerning the manners of the nation ; the condition of the colony of the European inhabitants, not to be found in any other description of the country.
'Written with a strict attention to veracity, during a long residence in the aforesaid Cape of Good Hope, by Peter Kolben, M.A., who was sent to the Cape through a distinguished minister, with letters of introduction from the late Right Hon. Lord Nicholas Witsen, Burgomaster of the town of Amsterdam, for the purposes of this compilation, and for mathematical and astronomical research, and who afterwards became Secretary for Stellenbosch and Drakenstein, and is now headmaster of the celebrated school at Neustad. . . . Augmented and embellished with useful, new, and curious maps and many illustrations.
'The best Dutch edition, with excellent full-page engravings and a fine portrait of Kolbe.'
- Overall Condition: Very good
- Size: Folio (350 x 220 mm)
