Laat ons veg – J.D. Killian
Laat ons veg – J.D. Killian
Laat ons Veg met Generaal De Wet op Amajuba en in die Boere-Kampe (Scarce Africana Veteran Memoir Copy)
An Intimate Military and Spiritual Retrospective of the South African Freedom Wars
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Laat ons veg
- Author: J.D. Killian (Justus Daniel Killian)
- Publisher: Perskor, Johannesburg
- Publication Date: 1975 (First Edition)
- ISBN-10: 0628006968
- Edition Details: First Edition, Standard Hardcover Release.
- Binding: Original publisher's full cloth boards with gilt or printed spine titles, issued with a pictorial dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo). Enhanced with historical family accounts, archival battle perspectives, and detailed focus on the Heidelberg Commando.
- Language: Afrikaans
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Boards: The cloth binding remains exceptionally flat, square, and structurally robust. Spine ends and corners show only microscopic shelf friction, completely consistent with careful decades-long preservation.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, crisp, and exceptionally clean. Internal pages are bright and free of standard user highlighting, foxing, dealer pencil marks, or dog-ears.
- Provenance: Clean, unmarked historic family record block.
- The Dust Jacket: Very Good Minus (VG-)
- Condition Details: The original pictorial dust jacket presents beautifully, now fully stabilized and protected under a clear, archival-quality plastic cover. Displays some slight, natural sun-fading along the spine panel alongside very minor edge wear and light creasing at the extremities. No major paper loss or jagged tears.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published by Perskor in 1975, Laat ons veg is a scarce and highly personal historical chronicle written by the Reverend Justus Killian, documenting the extraordinary military and spiritual journey of his father, Veldkornet Petrus Johannes Justus Daniel Killian (1850–1941) of the Heidelberg Commando. The text spans critical junctures of South African conflict, detailing operations alongside General Christiaan de Wet, experiences at Majuba Mountain in 1881 (where Petrus famously shielded the dying British General Colley from the sun), and survival through the grueling campaigns of the Second Anglo-Boer War. Blending a strict religious worldview with tactical Mauser combat realities, this book stands out as a unique piece of Boer War literature that captures the absolute psyche of the "Bittereinder" forces.
Author Profile: J.D. Killian
The Reverend Justus Killian was a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church and the son of legendary Boer veteran Petrus Kilian. Drawing directly from his own childhood memories on commando (having ridden with his father at just 13 years old) and carefully guarded family journals, Killian composed this work to preserve the raw, unedited oral history and battlefield heritage of the Transvaal republics.
