The Present State of the Cape of Good-Hope: Or, A Particular Account of the Several Nations of the Hottentots Together with a Short Account of Dutch Settlement at the Cape. [Two Volumes]

1731. Second English Edition. Published the same year as the first edition. Translated by Mr Medley from the High German of Peter Kolben. A very good copy set in original speckled calf, neatly and expertly rebacked. Collated, complete. All plates present. Frontispiece and sixteen plates to volume I. Frontispiece, twelve plates and folding map of the Cape to volume II. This edition complete with folding map plates and frontispiece (not in the first edition). Peter Kolben (1675 ? 1726) was sent to the Cape of Good Hope with letters of introduction from Nicolaes Witsen, mayor of Amsterdam, with a mandate to compile a comprehensive description of South Africa. This work documents the daily life at the Cape, its geography, climate, flora and flauna. It contains the earliest list of South African animals and a full account of the country?s government. It also features a study of the Hottentots, their language, religion, lifestyle and customs. An exceptional copy of a rare volume on the history of Africa.…