Deluxe facsimile edition of Sir Andrew Smith’s Illustrations of the Zoology of South Africa (3 vols) 1977
Number 60 out of 350 copies.
3 volumes; complete.
Vol 1 is slightly paler in shade to the other volumes.
Published in 1977 by Winchester Press, Johannesburg.
While the original 1849 London publication by Smith, Elder, and Co. is a legendary rarity, the 3-volume facsimile set holds a fascinating place in South African publishing and scientific history.
When the Winchester Press took on the undertaking in 1977, they limited the print run strictly to 350 numbered sets, making this facsimile edition highly collectible.
The original work wasn't published as a clean 3-volume set; between 1838 and 1849, it was released in 28 separate, erratic parts that subscribers had to bind themselves. Because complete, uniform 19th-century sets are practically non-existent or financially out of reach for most institutions, Winchester Press borrowed a pristine, complete copy from the Johannesburg Public Library to produce this facsimile. To make it a true reference work, they added sequential pagination for the very first time, as the original parts were notoriously difficult to navigate.
While Sir Andrew Smith gets top billing on the title page as the scientist and expedition leader, the visual soul of these volumes belongs to George Henry Ford.
Ford was a young, exceptionally talented South African artist who was discovered by Smith while recuperating from a hip injury on a farm in South Africa. Smith recognized his genius and hired him for his massive 1834–1836 expedition into the interior.
Ford’s painstakingly detailed, hand-colored plates broke the traditional mold of European natural history illustration. Instead of drawing from shriveled, discolored specimens pickled in jars of spirits, which was standard practice in London at the time, Ford sketched the mammals, birds, and reptiles in the field, capturing their living postures and vibrant, true-to-life colors. His work in these volumes was so revolutionary that when he eventually moved to London, he became the premier natural history artist for the British Museum.
Sir Andrew Smith is widely revered as the "Father of Cape Zoology" and was the founding superintendent of the South African Museum in Cape Town in 1825. However, the expedition that yielded the specimens for these three volumes had a hidden, highly political agenda.
When the Cape of Good Hope Association for Exploring Central Africa funded his major 1834 trek into the interior (crossing the Orange River and reaching as far as the Magaliesberg), the British Governor, Sir Benjamin D'Urban, gave Smith a dual mandate. Under the guise of a purely scientific natural history expedition, Smith was acting as a diplomat and intelligence officer. He was explicitly tasked with mapping the military strength, leadership structures, and political alliances of the local African kingdoms—including a crucial week-long meeting with the Zulu king, Dingane.
255 x 333 x 140 (All 3 vols together).
R4,000
