The Way to Kirstenbosch by Donal P. McCracken & Eileen M. McCracken

The Way to Kirstenbosch (Collectible 1988 Kirstenbosch Garden History)

A Scholarly History of Kirstenbosch and South Africa's Botanic Gardens by Donal and Eileen McCracken

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: The Way to Kirstenbosch
• Authors: Donal P. McCracken & Eileen M. McCracken
• Publisher: National Botanic Gardens
• Publication Date: 1988
• ISBN-10: 062011648X
• Binding: Publisher's pictorial hardcover, printed boards with a cloth-textured finish, title and authors in outline lettering to front and spine
• Physical Format: Large portrait format hardcover, issued as volume 18 of the Annals of Kirstenbosch series, 142 pages.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Boards: The pictorial boards carry a colour photograph of mountain and flowers wrapping across front, spine and back. The head of the spine shows fraying and wear, with some lifting of the covering at the top. There is light wear along the edges and the right edge of the front cover, and the colours of the spine are slightly faded. The book was issued without a dust jacket, the picture being printed directly on the boards.
• Interior: The title page and copyright page are clean, with no marks, stamps or ex-library markings.
• The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)

Synopsis & Historical Value

The Way to Kirstenbosch, published in Cape Town in 1988 by the National Botanic Gardens, is a history of South African botanic gardens and the story of Kirstenbosch. It appeared as volume 18 of the Annals of Kirstenbosch series.

The book has been cited by scholars writing on the colonial-era history of Kirstenbosch, and the history of the Natal botanic garden also draws on it. It is a useful reference for anyone interested in the development of botanical institutions at the Cape and beyond.

This is a worthwhile collectible volume for Africana, natural history and horticultural libraries, written by two authors who were both historians of gardens and botany.

Author Profile: Donal P. McCracken & Eileen M. McCracken

Donal P. McCracken is an Irish-born emeritus professor of history at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where he was Dean of Humanities from 1994 to 2009. He was the first chair of the Durban Botanic Gardens Trust. His other works include Gardens of Empire (Leicester University Press, 1997), Natal the Garden Colony (1990/1991), A New History of the Durban Botanic Gardens (1996) and Saving the Zululand Wilderness (Jacana, 2008).

Eileen M. McCracken (née Webb) was an Irish botanist, geographer and historian of botany. She died in Durban on 12 November 1988. Her other works include Irish Woods Since Tudor Times (1971) and The Brightest Jewel (with Charles Nelson, 1987).

The Way to Kirstenbosch McCracken · Kirstenbosch history book · Donal McCracken botanic gardens · Annals of Kirstenbosch volume 18 · South African botanic gardens history · Eileen McCracken Kirstenbosch · Africana natural history book