• Francois le Vaillant: Travels into the interior of Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. Vol II
    Translated with an Introduction and Notes by D.J. Culpin
    Volume:
    III-3 (2021)
    Print Status:
    In Print (eBook available)
    This volume of Le Vaillant’s Travels continues the narrative of his journey, begun in Volume 1, from the time of his arrival at Kok’s Kraal on the banks of the Great Fish River, where he pitched camp and remained from 12 October until 4 December 1782. This sojourn of two months was the longest time that Le Vaillant remained in...
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  • Hendrik Swellengrebel in Africa. Journals of Three Journeys in 1776-1777
    Edited by Gerrit Schutte
    Volume:
    II-49 (2018)
    Print Status:
    In Print (eBook available)
    Hendrik Swellengrebel was born at the Cape on 26 November 1734, the fifth child of Hendrik Swellengrebel Snr, at the time the Secretary of the Council of Policy, but from 1739 Governor of the Cape of Good Hope, and of Helena Wilhelmina ten Damme. After bidding farewell to his parents on 25 March 1746, Hendrik Jr travelled as an eleven-year-old...
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  • Francois le Vaillant: Travels into the interior of Africa via the Cape of Good Hope. Vol I
    Translated and edited by Ian Glenn with the assistance of Catherine Lauga du Plessis and Ian Farlam
    Volume:
    II-38 (2007)
    Print Status:
    In Print (eBook available)
    In 1780 the young Francois Vaillant set out from Holland for the Cape to collect specimens of birds and animals. His account of his travels, which was published widely during the revolutionary period, became an influential piece of writing about South Africa, popular throughout Europe and reflected many Enlightenment attitudes.I t was the first highly critical account of Dutch colonialism...
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  • Hendrik Cloete, Groot Constantia and the VOC, 1788-1799
    Documents from the Swellengrebel Archive, edited and introduced by G J Schutte. English translation by N O van Gylswyk and D.Sleigh. (2003)
    Volume:
    II-34 (2003)
    Print Status:
    In Print
    Hendrik Cloete, the owner of Groot Constantia from 1778, extended the manor house and improved and marketed the celebrated Constantia wines. This volume, the correspondence between Cloete and Hendrik Swellengrebel jr follows his attempt o obtain the concession from the Dutch East India Company to freely trade and market his famous wines. This material enables the reader to take a...
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  • Carl Peter Thunberg. Travels at the Cape of Good Hope 1772-1775
    Edited by Emeritus Prof. V.S. Forbes and translated from the Swedish by J and I Rudner
    Volume:
    II-17 (1986)
    Print Status:
    In Print
    Carl Peter Thunberg (1743), a Swede and disciple of the renowned botanist, Linnaeus the elder, was the first university graduate to travel extensively in the Cape interior, preceding the expedition of his compatriot, Anders Sparrman. Apart from recounting his three journeys - two to the Eastern Cape as far as the Sundays River, and one to the Roggeveld - he...
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  • The Garrett Papers
    Edited with an introduction by Gerald Shaw
    Volume:
    II-15 (1984)
    Print Status:
    In Print
    Edmund Garrett (1865-1907) was a member of the family which produced such leading feminists as Dr Elizabeth Garrett Anderson and Millicent Garrett Fawcett. In 1895 he was appointed editor of the Cape Times and remained there during the crucial period of the Jameson Raid and the lead-up to the South African War. A staunch imperialist he formed close relationships with...
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  • Briefwisseling van Hendrik Swellengrebel Jr. oor Kaapse Sake 1779-1792
    Uitgegee met inleiding en aantekeninge deur dr. G.J. Schutte. With an English summary by Dr A.J. Böeseken assisted by Prof. H.M. Robertson
    Volume:
    II-13 (1982)
    Print Status:
    In Print
    Hendrik Swellengrebel Jr (1734-1803) was the son of Hendrik Swellengrebel who served as governor for a number of years and retained extensive properties there. The younger Swellengrebel lived a comfortable life in the Netherlands, but visited the Cape between 1776-1777. Thereafter he retained an interest in Cape affairs. He became associated with the rebel Cape Patriot movement and did much...
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  • Anders Sparrman. Travels in the Cape 1772-1776: Vol. II
    With introduction and editing by Prof. Vernon S. Forbes. Translated from the Swedish by J. and I. Rudner.
    Volume:
    II-7 (1976)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    This second volume of Sparrman's travels concerns his account of his journey to the Eastern Cape including a stay at Agter Bruintjies Hoogte. It includes comments on the practices of the Khoi of the eastern districts and of local flora and fauna.
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  • Anders Sparrman. Travels in the Cape 1772-1776; Vol. I
    With introduction and editing by Prof. Vernon S. Forbes. Translated from the Swedish by J. and I. Rudner.
    Volume:
    II-6 (1975)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    Anders Sparrman (1748-1820), a young Swedish doctor, is noteworthy for his visit to parts of the Cape which were little known at that time. This first volume describes his journey past Mossel Bay and through the Langkloof.
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  • Beschryvinge van Kaap der Goede Hoope, met de zaaken daar toe behoorende, door François Valentyn, 1726. Dl. II.
    Edited by Dr. E. H. Raidt with English Translation by Maj. R. Raven-Hart
    Volume:
    II-4 (1973)
    Print Status:
    Out of print
    This second part of Valentyn's travels continues with the account of his visit in 1702 and a later visit of 1714. It includes a lengthy account of the customs of the Khoi and their language, the fauna to be encountered and the early history of the settlement.
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  • Dagboek van Adam Tas, 1705-1706
    Uitgegee deur Leo Fouché en hersien deur A.J. Böeseken met bykomende voetnote deur prof. A.M. Hugo. English translation by Dr J. Smuts
    Volume:
    II-1 (1970)
    Print Status:
    Out of print
    Adam Tas (1668-1722) was an early Dutch free burgher, farming in the Stellenbosch district. He is best known for the part he played in the free burgher conflicts with the Governor Willem Adriaan van der Stel, concerning the corruption of Company officials and their misuse of trading monopolies. This diary, the work of an engaging and genial man, describes the...
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  • Reize in de Binnen-Landen van Zuid-Africa. Gedaan in den Jaare 1803 door W.B.E. Paravicini di Capelli, Kapitein Aide de Camp, by den Gouverneur van de Caap de Goede Hoop
    Uitgegee en toegelig met inleiding, voetnote, sketskaarte en verkorte weergawe in Engels deur W.J. de Kock
    Volume:
    I-46 (1965)
    Print Status:
    Out of Print
    Paravicini di Capelli was an artillery-captain at the time of the Batavian Republic and aide-de-camp of the Cape governor, General Jan Willem Janssens. He travelled with the governor into the interior, keeping an official journal as well as his own, and was active in preparations of the Cape against attack by the British, travelling widely during this period. In 1804...
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  • Mentzel, O.F. - A geographical-topographical description of the Cape of Good Hope. Part III
    Translated from the German by G.V. Marais and J. Hoge; revised and edited by H.J. Mandelbrote
    Volume:
    I-25 (1944)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    In this third volume of Mentzel's account of life at the Cape he travelled into the interior, to Stellenbosch and Swellendam. He comments on agriculture and viticulture, as well as hunting. The final chapters discuss the Khoi inhabitants.
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  • M.D. Teenstra - De vruchten mijner werkzaamheden, gedurende mijne reize over de Kaap de Goede Hoop, naar Java en terug, over St Helena, naar de Nederlanden, 1830
    Introduction by F.C.L. Bosman and a linguistic view by Prof. Dr. J.L.M. Franken; with a summary in English by P.J. Smuts
    Volume:
    I-24 (1943)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    M.D. Teenstra was a Dutch gentleman-farmer, who visited the Cape in 1825. During the course of his stay he went for a cure at the Caledon baths, and visited Genadendal and Cape Agulhas, returning to Cape Town via Franschhoek and Stellenbosch. His observations are acute and full and he made full use of statistics and other official information available to...
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  • Willem Stephanus van Ryneveld se Aanmerkingen over de verbetering van het vee aan de Kaap de Goede Hoop, 1804
    Uitgegee en toegelig deur H.B. Thom; with an English translation by I.M. Murray and J.L.M. Franken
    Volume:
    I-23 (1942)
    Print Status:
    Out of print
    This volume touches on one of the most important aspects of South African economic history before the discovery of diamonds and gold. It is an early study of the livestock industry at the Cape, especially the development of the merino sheep industry. The author was a colonial-born Company official, who found favour with the British authorities when they took the...
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  • Die Duminy Dagboeke [with English translation]
    Edited by Prof. J.L.M. Franken
    Volume:
    I-19 (1938)
    Print Status:
    Out of print
    The Duminy diaries consist of the diary of Johanna Margareta Duminy (1797), the journal of François Duminy of his visit to the Caledon Baths and the Bok river (9 November 1810 to 4 March 1811), the journal of François Duminy's expedition to Walfish Bay in 1793 and Sebastian Valentyn van Reenen's journal of the same expedition. An English translation of...
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  • Die Joernaal van Dirk Gysbert van Reenen, 1803
    Uitgegee deur wyle prof. dr. W. Blommaert en prof. J.A. Wiid. With an English translation by J.L.M. Franken and Ian M. Murray
    Volume:
    I-18 (1937)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint available)
    This is an account of a journey in to the Eastern Cape undertaken by the Governor of the Cape, J.W. Janssens and Capt Paravicini de Capelli, recorded by D.G. van Reenen. Van Reenen was a prominent burger at the Cape, a winemaker, reputed to make the best wine in the Cape, and he held the wine and meat contracts...
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  • The Journal of Hendrik Jacob Wikar [1779] with an English translation by A.W. van der Horst; and the Journals of Jacobus Coetse Jansz [1760] and Willem van Reenen [1791]
    Translated and edited by Dr E.E. Mossop
    Volume:
    I-15 (1935)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    These journals were published originally in Molsbergen's Reizen in Zuid Afrika. Wikar's report is an account of the daily life and adventures of the first European who is known to have journeyed along the Orange River, while that of Jansz records the first European crossing of the Orange River into South-West Africa . Van Reenen crossed the Orange River into...
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  • Journals of the expedition of the Honourable Ensign Olof Bergh [1682 and 1683] and Isaq Schrijver [1689]
    Transcribed and translated into English and edited by Dr E.E. Mossop
    Volume:
    I-12 (1931)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    The Swede, Olof Bergh, was one of the earliest travellers to undertake the journey up to Namaqualand. The purpose of his journeys was to negotiate with the 'Sousequase and Gourisse Hottentots' , to trade and to familiarise himself with the region up the Cape west coast. Isaq Schrijver of Leiden was also sent north by Governor Simon van der...
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  • Lichtenstein, Henry - Travels in Southern Africa in the years 1803 - 1806; by Henry Lichtenstein; Vol II
    Translated from the original German by Anne Plumptre. London, 1812-15
    Volume:
    I-11 (1928-30)
    Print Status:
    Out of print
    In this second volume Lichtenstein returned to Cape Town via Graaff Reinet and the Karroo. Subsequently he returned to the Swellendam district. His last journey took him north to Kuruman where he encountered the Koranna and the Bechuana.
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  • Mentzel, O.F. - A geographical-topographical description of the Cape of Good Hope. Part II
    Translated from the German by H.J. Mandelbrote
    Volume:
    I-6 (1924)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    The second part of Mentzel's account of life at the Cape ranges widely, from revenues available to the Cape government, to the daily life of the burghers, public auctions and the treatment of slaves.
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  • Collectanea
    A collection of various documents relating to the Cape and Natal (1695-1710). With a preface by C. Graham Botha
    Volume:
    I-5 (1922)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    A collection of various documents relating to the Cape and Natal (1695-1710)
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  • Mentzel, O.F. - A geographical-topographical description of the Cape of Good Hope. Part I
    Translated from the German by H.J. Mandelbrote
    Volume:
    I-4 (1921)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    The first of three volumes by Mentzel on conditions at the Cape as he found them in the mid-18th century. Mentzel intended to correct the errors perpetrated by such earlier travellers as Kolb. This volume contains an historical background, a description of the physical features of the Cape and accounts of the administration and finances of the colony.
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  • De Mist, J.A. - Memorandum containing recommendations for the form and administration of government at the Cape of Good Hope, 1802
    Original Dutch text with an English version by M.K. Jeffreys and Preface by S.F.N. Gie
    Volume:
    I-3 (1920)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    This report by De Mist, prepared and completed in January 1802 in Amsterdam, recommends changes to be made to the government of the Cape during the critical years between the two British occupations. It also ranges widely over social, economic and political conditions of the Cape at the end of the 18th century.
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  • Mentzel, O.F. - Life at the Cape in the mid-eighteenth century, being the biography of Rudolph Siegfried Allemann, Captain of the Military Forces at the Cape of Good Hope
    Translated from the German by M. Greenlees; Notes by Kathleen M Jeffreys
    Volume:
    I-2 (1919)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    This 'biography' of Allemann is, in fact, an entertaining account of social life at the Cape during the mid-18th century. The topics range from the structure of the military forces to the life of slaves, and the revolt of Etienne Barbier to shipwrecks and the financial prospects of young women.
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  • Reports of De Chavonnes and his Council, and of Van Imhoff, on the Cape
    Direct transcripts of the original documents, made by Margaret Ralling and introduced by John X. Merriman
    Volume:
    I-1 (1918)
    Print Status:
    Out of print (Softbound reprint and eBook available)
    Written in Dutch, with translations in English, according to John X Merriman, one of the founders of the society, these documents deal 'with matters that Dr Theal characterized as, probably, of the greatest importance to the European Settlement in this country'. They are official reports on conditions at the Cape.
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  • Jan van Riebeeck Journal/Daghregister – Volume III (1659-1662)
    Edited and with Introduction and Footnotes by H B Thom, Professor of History University of Stellenbosch
    Volume:
    JvR - 3
    Print Status:
    Out of Print (eBook available)
    Jan van Riebeeck was born on 21 April 1619. He was descended from a prominent old family from the region of Culemborg, where the three provinces South Holland, Utrecht and Gelderland converged. His father, Anthony, had by way of a surgeon’s qualification entered paid service with the Dutch East India Company, without having to begin his career on the lowest...
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  • Jan van Riebeeck Journal/Daghregister – Volume II (1656-1658)
    Edited and with Introduction and Footnotes by H B Thom, Professor of History University of Stellenbosch
    Volume:
    JvR - 2
    Print Status:
    Out of Print (eBook available)
    Jan van Riebeeck was born on 21 April 1619. He was descended from a prominent old family from the region of Culemborg, where the three provinces South Holland, Utrecht and Gelderland converged. His father, Anthony, had by way of a surgeon’s qualification entered paid service with the Dutch East India Company, without having to begin his career on the lowest...
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  • Jan van Riebeeck Journal/Daghregister - Volume I (1651-1655)
    Edited and with Introduction and Footnotes by H B Thom, Professor of History University of Stellenbosch
    Volume:
    JvR - 1
    Print Status:
    Out of Print (eBook available)
    Jan van Riebeeck was born on 21 April 1619. He was descended from a prominent old family from the region of Culemborg, where the three provinces South Holland, Utrecht and Gelderland converged. His father, Anthony, had by way of a surgeon’s qualification entered paid service with the Dutch East India Company, without having to begin his career on the lowest...
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