Bowler Thomas Illustrator (1 results)

Condition: NEAR FINE. First edition. First book publication of these letters which originally appeared in Cape Monthly Magazine during 1861-1862. While the identity of 'The Lady' has not been definitively proved, in 1911. A. C. Llyod writing in 1911 stated that the earlier letters were by Mrs. W.H. Ross (her husband was co-editor of the Cape Monthly Magazine), those from Grahamstown Mrs. Glanville, and those from Natal by Sir John Robinson. From the dust jacket: "In August, 1861, a Lady arrived in Cape Town from England. She possessed a remarkable talent for observation and a great gift for writing down all she saw and observed. . She was not much of a stay-at-home; she seems to have been more in the saddle than in a chair, and can therefore say a great deal about the surroundings of the Cape, and her rides to Camps Bay, Kalk Bay, Constantia, Wynberg and Newlands; also about her more ambitious travels to Stellenbosch, Wellington, the Paarl and Worcester. What she tells is very interesting, especially about social customs. She writes about the 'upper-ten', the old Dutch and the English families, their elegant houses . . she also tells about the fishermen, the Malay tailors, and the whole womewhat untidy but colourful scenes of the 'men in the street'. . The 16 lithographs chosen from the work of Thomas Bowler (who was the Lady's contemporary at the Cape) make their own contribution to the atmosphere and social background of the scene." Slightly oversized octavo. 119 p Near fine in light blue cloth in a very good dust jacket (previous owner's name, toning to pages and dj, some edgewear to dj).