YOU
CANNOT ALWAYS JUDGE
A BOOK BY ITS COVER
The old cliche
of not judging a book by its cover is true in more than one sense.
Today the dust wrapper is as important as the contents and the
edition of the book itself. Sometimes a first edition is not always
the best edition. Here a good example is Captain William Cornwallis
Harris’ Narrative of an Expedition into Southern Africa
(1852). The fifth edition of this work is the best, as it includes
extra illustrations and text not found in earlier editions.
Michael Prior and his wife Vanessa have been in the antique business
for many years. Their business, Collectables, is based in Johannesburg
and today they also have a shop in Hermanus, called Tutamen. Michael’s
love of books, maps, prints, documents and signatures goes back
a long way. He is meticulous in his research and he has over the
years unearthed many interesting and unusual items.
 Recently
he showed me two interesting books which he had acquired. The
first of these is a Dutch bible published in Amsterdam in 1797.
The previous owner’s wife always felt that it was special
and after her death her husband sold the book to Prior knowing
of his love of old books and interest in history. The bible like
all purchases that a dealer makes was set aside until time could
be spent on researching it. The first thing about the bible was
the inscription which reads “Peterus Erasmus Smit Jun. Graaff-Reinet
26th December 1827”. Smit is an interesting character who
played an important part in the 19th Century colonial history
of South Africa. Born in Amsterdam in 1778 he came to South Africa
in 1804. He worked as a missionary with the London Missionary
Society at Bethelsdorp. In June 1813 Smit married Suzanna Maritz
the sister of Gert Maritz the Voortrekker leader. The marriage
took place in Graaff-Reinet when Suzanna was not quite14 years
old. In the same year they moved to Colesberg to continue his
work as a missionary. From there they moved to Beaufort West and
later to Graaff-Reinet again. This latter move is significant
as far as the bible is concerned. In 1836 Smit aged 59 joined
the Great Trek with his brother-in-law Gert Maritz. Smit kept
a diary throughout his life and the early part of it unfortunately
has been lost. The period from 1836 to 1839 however has survived
and was published as The Diary of Erasmus Smit (Cape Town, 1972).
Here he records his experiences with the trekkers in Natal and
gives an account of the death of Piet Retief and the Battle of
Blood River. He was the only minister to accompany the trekkers
on their journey northwards. Many of them disliked him because
he had been trained by the London Missionary Society and as he
had no formal qualification they felt his ability to administer
the sacrament, baptism and Holy Communion was limited.
He ended his days in Pietermaritzburg becoming the minister of
the Church of the Covenant in 1840. He died in 1863, seven days
after his wife.
Back to the bible itself. It had obviously travelled on the trek
with Smit. The inscription in the front is dated at Graaff-Reinet
26th December 1827. This means it was either acquired by him there
or presented to him while he was there.
When Michael Prior started to look at the bible in detail as
well as the inscription it had clasps to keep it closed. These
were black but after careful cleaning they turned out to be silver
which made it more interesting. More was to come. One of the clasps
was engraved “Pietrus Smit” which meant that the clasps
were made for its owner. The final glory of this small bible was
the maker’s marks on the clasp, which turned out to be the
mark of the Cape Silversmith Theodorus Heegers, (circa 1777 –
1830?). Stephan Welz records in his book on Cape Silver that Heegers
worked in Graaff-Reinet from 1829 to1830. Pieces of silver made
in Graaff-Reinet are almost unheard of.
This of course all means that this historically important bible
went on the Great Trek and was probably used at the burial of
Gert Martiz and Piet Retief. Because of the makers marks it is
also probably the only piece of Cape Silver that can be definitely
said to have been made in Graaff-Reinet. The bible is therefore
an important piece of our cultural heritage and has the most wonderful
provenance.
During a life time in the world of books and antiques I have
been shown a large number of options that the owners believe had
been on the Great Trek. Some could never have been on it because
they were obviously made later. Others might have been, but there
was no way of proving this. I have now finally seen and handled
a piece that was on the Great Trek. This once again shows how
important the provenance of the piece is.
Prior now showed me a second book, which again from the exterior
looked quite ordinary and of no interest. It is a first edition
by H.G. Wells (1866 – 1946) book entitled Tono Bungay published
in London in 1909. The inscription in the front reads “With
Best Wishes Ethel Sanders from H.G. Wells” it is therefore
an interesting inscribed copy of one of his books. Once again
more was to come as below the inscription are two drawings. The
first is of a bottle with the words inscribed “this bottle
improves with age”. Next there is a drawing of a man and
the inscription here reads “this is my uncle when he was
quite anonymous”. The final and most interesting inscription
reads”when in doubt buy your haberdashery at Wells’
Store Turffontein - he is my brother”. Michael’s eagle
eye picked up the name Turffontein and on researching the item
found in Anna Smith’s book Johannesburg Street Names (1971).
“The corner opposite the Turffontein Hotel was popularly
known as such after a draper named Wells said to be the brother
of H.G. Wells … the firm in question if presumably F. Wells
and Co., Outfitters 131A Hay Street, Turffontein… as listed
in the United Transvaal Directory 1921”.
So another exciting find proving finally that Anna Smith was
correct and that Wells’ Corner was actually named after
H.G. Wells’ brother. History is amazing! Years after the
event pieces of the puzzle continue to fall into place proving
that there is always something new to be found in history.
Michael and Vanessa Prior have over the years handled many wonderful
objects which they have sold to grateful collectors all over the
country. I personally believe that one of the reasons they are
such good dealers is that they are both passionate collectors.
This has helped them find unusual items that others might have
overlooked, I think these two books prove this. Anyone interested
in old and unusual things must always look at them with great
care as finer details may be overlooked. The detail is often more
important than the object itself. As I have said before the provenance
is extremely important and adds significantly to its value. The
Priors and their business Collectables will be exhibiting at the
S.A. Antique Dealers Associations Annual fair at the Wanderers
Club from 9th to the 11th October 2009. Otherwise visit the SAADA
website at www.saada.co.za,
for more information about their business in Johannesburg and
Hermanus.
ANTONY WILEY
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