Gardiner, Captain Allen Francis

Narrative of a Journey to the Zoolu Country in South Africa. Undertaken in 1835

Hardcover, London: William Crofts, 1836. First Edition. Octavo, pp. Iv, 412. Frontispiece of Dingarn in His Ordinary and Dancing Dresses, 24 additional plates, Plan of the Town of D'Urban, 2 folding maps with colored borders. Frontispiece and 1 additional plate in full color. Bound in publisher's dark green sand grained cloth with gilt spine titles. Original yellow endpapers. Spine cloth slightly faded, spine slightly slanted, wrinkling to rear board cloth. Letter and newspaper clipping showing provenance laid in, book belonged to the Governor of Natal Colony. Captain Gardiner arrived in Port Natal, a small trading outpost on the edge of Zululand, on January 29, 1835. He traveled into Zululand three times and met with King Dingane (spelled Dingarn in the book) and his top two indunas, Ndlela and Dambeza. On his first trip, Gardiner came as a Christian missionary and failed to make a single convert. On his second and third trips, Gardiner acted as the representative of the European traders at Port Natal and succesfully negotiated peace with Dingane who made Gardiner a Zulu chief. In between trips to Zululand, Gardiner was one of 15 European founders of the town of D'Urban. Today, Durban is a city of 3 million people. This book belonged to Sir Matthew Nathan, Governor of Natal Colony from 9/2/1907- 12/23/1909. He received it as a gift from William Osborn, Librarian and Secretary of the Durban Public Library in Natal. In a handwritten letter, dated December 2, 1909, Osborn says the book is from his private collection, and he is offering it to the Governor because of the Governor's deep interest in Natal bibliography. Sir Matthew Nathan was the last Governor of Natal Colony to serve a full term. ; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 412 pages. [Item #77208]

Price: $800.00