Publisher's brown cloth binding with gilt titles to spine.
238pp. With thirty-six text figures.
Inscribed on the front endpaper, "The Hon. J. H. Hofmeyr with the author's kind regards. Feb. 1934."
There are also three instances of Broom's hand corrections in the text, namely on figure 24 facing page 132, figure 26 facing page 146, and a word in the text on page 223. (see images)
A few sentences have also been underlined in pencil with a short note in Afrikaans on page 219 referring to Hobbes' Leviathan. I believe these to have been made by The Hon. Jan Hofmeyr after he received this copy from the author.
Robert Broom (1866–1951) was a famous Scottish-South African medical doctor and paleontologist best known for discovering crucial early human ancestor fossils in South Africa. The inscription in this book was made thirteen years before Broom became internationally famous after discovering a near complete skull of Australopithecus africanus, known as "Mrs. Ples", in the Sterkfontein caves in 1947. His discovery provided major proof that human beings evolved in Africa.
His extensive excavations helped turn South Africa's fossil caves into world-famous heritage sites.
'Jan Hendrik Hofmeyr (1894-1948) is remembered as one of South Africa’s greatest intellects and the leading liberal figure of his generation. He matriculated at age 12, earned two bachelor's degrees by 17, and became the Principal of the University of the Witwatersrand at just 25 years old. He served as the Administrator of the Transvaal before entering parliament and becoming a central cabinet minister under Prime Minister Jan Smuts. He held portfolios in Finance, Education, and Mines. As Deputy Prime Minister, Hofmeyr strongly opposed the disenfranchisement of Black and Coloured citizens. He famously warned white voters that South Africa would eventually have to abandon racial discrimination.' - wikipedia
On February 23, 1949, a fire destroyed the library of Potchefstroom University with an estimated 30,000 books being consumed in the flames. A nation-wide initiative was launched to rebuild the library and huge donations in the form of books and money were collected. The new library was opened in March, 1951. This copy was one of the books donated by The University of the Witwatersrand, the institution of which Hofmeyr was the Principal. The bookplate of the Potchefstroom University College on the front endpaper is in Afrikaans and reads as follows, "Donated by the Witwatersrand University on occasion of the library fire 23//2/49."
Library cancellations stamp "uitgeskakel" on the bottom of the front and rear endpapers.
- Binding Condition: Fair
- Overall Condition: Fair to Good
