SPEECHES OF THE LATE RIGHT HONOURABLE HARRY ESCOMBE (1904)

'Speeches of the late Right Honourable Harry Escombe, P.C., M.L.A., Q.C., LL.D. Edited by J. T. Henderson, Hansard Reporter, Natal Legislative Assembly, with an Introductory Note by the late Hon. Sir J. Robinson, K.C.M.G.'

Publisher's green pebble-grained cloth with gilt titles to spine. Green floral patterned endpapers. Printed and bound by P. Davis & Sons - an early example of Pietermaritzburg book manufacture.

xv + 455pp + 12pp [index]. Frontispiece portrait of Escombe with protective tissue cover.

Binding tight. Contents clean.

'Sir John Robinson remarks that Mr. Escombe's first appearances as a public speaker were on the occasions when he lectured on astronomical subjects in 1870. Later on his abilities as a political debater began to be recognised, and his oratory was marked by great "persuasive force," coupled with "unrivalled command and uninterrupted, unaided flow of terse, well-chosen language." Mr. Henderson observes in his Preface that "Mr. Escombe was physically and intellectually the embodiment of vigorous manhood, and he was naturally a leader of men . . . a man of striking personality, singular ability, and originality of thought . . . a patriot before . . . a partisan . . . a man of high and heroic ideals; in a word, he was a Bayard in Political Life." - Mendelssohn Vol.I. page 524