Comprising a view of the Present State of the Cape Colony
With observations on the progress and prospects of the British emigrants
First edition: xviii, 493 pages, aquatint frontispiece - a view of Cape Town, folding map, 2 folding plans of Graaff Reinet and Cape Town, double page aquatint view of Table Mountain from the Parade, 18 aquatint plates, 17 engraved vignettes, handsomely bound in three quarter maroon morocco with match cloth sides, titled and decorated gilt on the spine, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers, the double page Plan of Cape Town at page 382 is split at the fold and this has been simply repaired with cellotape which has now dried out and fallen off leaving a stain, the contents and plates are free of foxing, a very good copy.
Mendelssohn (Sidney) South African Bibliography ,volume 2, pages 493/4, 'This valuable work was written by a Cape Town merchant who resided in South Africa for many years, and who travelled throughout the greater part of the Cape Colony and a considerable part of Bechuanaland “partly for the motive of business and partly for the impulse of curiosity.” In 1823 and 1824 he proceeded to the Orange River and Bechuanaland and his account of these regions is recognised as the most important description of this part of the continent published in the early part of the nineteenth century. The third division of the work comprises a review of the condition “of the Dutch and British inhabitants, of the agricultural, commercial, and financial circumstances of the country and of its adaptation for further colonisation”.'
- Overall Condition: Very good
- Size: 4to (280 x 220 mm)
