Over-die-berge by D. F. Malherbe

Over-die-berge (Collectible Afrikaans Great Trek Novel in Dust Jacket)

The Closing Great Trek Novel in D. F. Malherbe's Groot Gert Series, Set in the Free State and Natal

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Over-die-berge
• Author: D. F. Malherbe
• Publisher: Nasionale Boekhandel Bpk, Kaapstad, Bloemfontein, Johannesburg
• Publication Date: 1961
• ISBN: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
• Binding: Publisher's green cloth boards, issued with a dark red dust jacket printed in white lettering.
• Physical Format: Octavo, approximately 210 x 140 mm. Text in Afrikaans narrative prose; no maps or plates.
• Language: Afrikaans

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: The plain green cloth boards are clean, with sharp corners and no visible damage. The board edges are tidy and the binding stands square.
• Interior: The text pages are clean and cream-coloured, with no markings or foxing in the pages examined. The binding is tight. The page edges are slightly toned.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. The dark red jacket with white lettering shows chipping and fraying at the head and foot of the spine, with a small white loss spot on the spine. There is a tear and creasing at the lower front edge, a nick at the top corner of the back panel, edge wear to the front and back panels and a few small spots. The back panel is plain, without a blurb. Graded Good (G). Supplied in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Published in 1961 by Nasionale Boekhandel, Over-die-berge is a novel by the Afrikaans author D. F. Malherbe. It continues the story of Groot Gert and closes Malherbe's series of Great Trek novels, set among the trekkers of the Free State and Natal.

The narrative follows trek life through the voices of its characters, among them Hester, Johanna, neef Jan and oom Koot, who weigh the hardships of the journey and the prospect of a new settlement beyond the mountains.

The novel is linked to Malherbe's earlier Great Trek work, En die wawiele rol (1945), and belongs to the body of Afrikaans fiction that shaped how the Trek was remembered. It will interest collectors of Afrikaans literature and Afrikaner heritage.

Author Profile: D. F. Malherbe

Daniël François Malherbe (1881–1969) was an Afrikaans novelist, poet, dramatist and scholar. He is generally regarded as the author of the first Afrikaans novel of artistic value, Vergeet niet (1913).

He became the first professor of Afrikaans, at Grey University College in 1918, and later held a chair of literature at the University of Bloemfontein from 1922 to 1942. His other notable works include the biblical novels Die Hart van Moab (1933), Saul die worstelheld (1935) and Die profeet (1937), and he wrote nineteen plays between 1921 and 1959.

Over-die-berge Malherbe · D. F. Malherbe novel · Afrikaans Great Trek novel · Groot Gert series · Malherbe 1961 Nasionale Boekhandel · Afrikaans literature in dust jacket