Swallow

H. Rider Haggard

Published by Longmans, Green, And Co., 1899

About this Item

Longmans, Green, And Co., 1899 Condition: Very Good. Blue cloth with gilt lettering on cover and spine. Beveled edges. No dust jacket. Black endpapers. Black and white frontispiece and plates. Previous owner bookplate. Book Well kept and carefully stored with slight shelf wear. Edges have the usual yellowing. Pages are lightly toned with the usual signs of wear and/or age. Sir Henry Rider Haggard (1856-1925), author of "King Solomon's Mines", combines romance and exotic adventure in this novel of the Voortrekkers of 1836: Swallow is a Dutch girl raised in South Africa among the Kaffirs. Lonely, she gazes from shore over the waves of a storm-tossed sea, and dreams of a brother entering her life . . . and soon finds herself face-to-face with a shipwrecked waif cast ashore by the storm. Swallow grows to love the English boy Ralph Kenzie. He returns her love -- but must face the murderous Swart Piet, who is intent on taking Swallow for himself -- and equally set on bringing war to the region. Torn from Ralph's side, Swallow faces adventures of her own alongside Sihamba, the Kaffir witch-doctoress. Sir Henry Rider Haggard KBE (1856-1925) was a Victorian writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations. After failing his army entrance exam he was sent to a private 'crammer' in London to prepare for the entrance exam for the British Foreign Office, for which he never sat. Haggard's father sent him to Africa in an unpaid position as assistant to the secretary to Lieutenant-Governor of Natal Sir Henry Bulwer. Heavily influenced by the larger-than-life adventurers he met in Colonial Africa, the great mineral wealth discovered in Africa, and the ruins of ancient lost civilizations in Africa such as Great Zimbabwe, Haggard created his Allan Quatermain adventures. Haggard also wrote about agricultural and social issues reform, in part inspired by his experiences in Africa, but also based on what he saw in Europe. Haggard is most famous as the author of the best-selling novel King Solomon's Mines (1885). A few of his other well-known works are She (1887), Allan Quatermain (1888), Eric Brighteyes (1891) and Ayesha (1895).

Seller Inventory # 4

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Swallow
• Publisher: Longmans, Green, And Co.
• Publication Date: 1899
• Binding: Hardcover Cloth
• Edition: First.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Seller catalogs:
  • Novel
  • First Editions
  • Rare Books