Nach und in Südafrika (To and in South Africa) by Franz Eiffe. 1897
This item, titled Nach und in Südafrika (To and in South Africa) by Franz Eiffe (Hamburg, 1897), is a scarce privately printed piece of Africana with notable bibliographic details:
1. Ultra-Scarce "Privately Printed" Origin
The title page states "Als Manuscript gedruckt" (Printed as a manuscript). In 19th-century German publishing, this phrase indicated an extremely limited run intended for private distribution among family, associates, or subscribers rather than general trade publication.
The prefatory note on the second leaf confirms it is a Sonderabdruck (offprint/special edition) collecting travel letters originally serialized in the newspaper Hamburger Nachrichten between February and June 1897, printed at the request of friends ("Auf Wunsch einiger Freunde").
2. Inscribed Family Presentation Copy
At the top of the title page, the author handwrote a presentation inscription in Kurrent/Sütterlin cursive:
"Mit freundlichem Gruß / Von Deinem Vetter / Franz Eiffe"
("With friendly greetings / From your cousin / Franz Eiffe")
This confirms the author personally inscribed this specific copy to a relative, elevating its provenance.
3. Connection to the Prominent Hamburg Eiffe Family
The author, Franz Ferdinand Eiffe (1860–1941), was a notable Hamburg merchant, senator, and member of the Hamburgische Bürgerschaft (Hamburg Parliament). Coming from a wealthy patrician family deeply involved in overseas trade and shipping out of Hamburg’s port, his observations on South Africa were written through the lens of late-19th-century Hanseatic commercial and imperial interests.
4. Written During a Critical Geopolitical Window (1897)
Penned in August 1897 following his travels, the work sits in the tense interval between the Jameson Raid (late 1895) and the outbreak of the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899). Hamburg merchants held significant financial interests in the Transvaal's goldfields, trade routes, and shipping lines, making firsthand account travelogues like Eiffe's highly influential among northern Germany's merchant elite.
Spine chipped; wrappers creased; 77 pages; ex library label on the back.
120mm x 180mm
R2,000
