First Edition of Herman Charles Bosman’s A Cask of Jerepigo (1957)

First edition of Herman Charles Bosman’s A Cask of Jerepigo, published in 1957 as "A Dassie Book" by Central News Agency (CNA).

This book represents both a bittersweet milestone in Bosman's tragic publishing legacy and a landmark moment in the birth of the local mass-market paperback industry.

The Posthumous Rescue of Bosman’s Genius

The most heartbreaking historical context of A Cask of Jerepigo is that Bosman never saw it in print.

When Bosman died suddenly at the age of 46 in October 1951, he was famous among a niche literary crowd but financially broke, having only managed to publish two books during his lifetime (Mafeking Road in 1947 and Cold Stone Jug in 1949).

Following his death, his close friend, the journalist and editor Lionel Abrahams, embarked on a monumental rescue mission. Abrahams meticulously tracked down Bosman's scattered, brilliant satirical essays, sketches, and courtroom reporting from the archives of ephemeral journals like The Trek and South African Opinion. This 1957 "Dassie" edition is the direct result of that rescue effort, introducing the world to Bosman's sharp-witted observations on Johannesburg street life, local culture, and the absurdities of human nature.

South Africa's Answer to the Penguin Revolution: "A Dassie Book"

The "Dassie Books" imprint⁠ holds a legendary place in South African printing history.

Launched by CNA in the early 1950s, Dassie Books was a deliberate, visionary attempt to replicate the massive success of British Penguin Books and American Pocket Books, but with a strictly homegrown flavor.

Before the Dassie imprint, local literature was almost exclusively printed in expensive, rigid hardbacks or imported from London. Dassie completely democratized South African reading by publishing cheap, pocket-sized softcovers priced at just a few shillings—as seen by the original "2/6" (two shillings and sixpence) price mark printed on the bottom right corner of this cover. They used local motifs (the rock hyrax/dassie) and striking, modernist geometric cover designs to make local voices instantly recognizable on newsstands.

The Wine in the Title: A Cultural Satire

The title itself is a brilliant piece of vintage Bosman irony. Jerepigo (or jerepiko) is a traditional, intensely sweet, fortified South African dessert wine with a very high alcohol content, historically associated with cheap, potent, unpretentious drinking.

By naming a collection of sophisticated literary essays and cultural sketches A Cask of Jerepigo, Bosman was executing a classic double entendre.

On one hand, he was playing on Edgar Allan Poe's famous macabre tale The Cask of Amontillado. On the other, he was proudly branding his stories as a purely South African vintage—heady, sweet, slightly intoxicating, and deeply rooted in the soil and everyday grit of the country, rather than mimicking refined, imported European tastes.

125mm x 185mm

Wrappers stained; minor creasing; pages mellowed.

R1,000