A Brief Guide to the Various Classes of Documents in the Cape Archives for the Period 1652-1806

Inscribed "J. R. Hartshorne Esq. With the Author's Compliments" to title page. 240 x 157 mm; side-stitched printed wrappers; pp. vi + (ii) + 85; plates. Wrappers somewhat browned, fractured at spine extremities; spot of deletion fluid to title page and first page of Preface; occasional fox spot. Good. (SABIB II, p. 253) Produced shortly before Graham Botha became chief archivist of the Union of South Africa, this volume covers three distinct periods in the early history of European settlement: The years 1652 to 1795, when the Dutch East India Company governed the Cape, the years of British government from 1795 to 1803, and the three years of rule by the Batavian Republic from 1803 to 1806. Far more than a mere catalogue, the book includes detailed descriptive notes, and reproductions of some originals. "At the request of the Royal Commission of Public Records he compiled a report on the archival documents at the Cape and simultaneously one on the results of his investigation in Europe. In April 1912 he was appointed the first archivist of the Union of South Africa." - DSAB V, p. 72. …