Skoppens Vier by C. F. Beyers-Boshoff

Skoppens Vier (Ex-Library Afrikaans Novel in Illustrated Dust Jacket)

A Pretoria-Published Afrikaans Novel of Four Loners Sharing an Old Warehouse, by Prolific Author C. F. Beyers-Boshoff

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Skoppens Vier
• Author: C. F. Beyers-Boshoff
• Publisher: J. P. van der Walt en Seun (Edms.) Bpk., Pretoria
• Binding: Publisher's hardcover in an illustrated dust jacket with a playing-card design on a purple ground, covered in a clear library-style protective film.
• Physical Format: Small octavo, novel-sized hardback. No maps or plates.
• Language: Afrikaans

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Boards: The boards beneath the jacket have not been assessed. The illustrated dust jacket is protected by a clear library-style film and carries a white shelf label to the spine reading AFR BOS. There is a small brownish spot to the front panel near the title and a round stain mark on the 4 of spades illustration. The back panel is toned and mottled with light brown marks, and there is light creasing to the jacket edges.
• Interior: The text block looks firm and the paper is cream, with clean pages and no visible marks in the sampled leaves. A library stamp and handwritten numbers appear on a front endpaper. The jacket flap has been repaired on the inside with yellowed sticky tape, leaving some tape staining to the flap.
• Provenance: Ex-library copy. Stamp: 'SAN SERENO LIBRARY 1998-12-15'. Handwritten return dates 2006-2009, pencil/pen classification AFR BEY, and spine label AFR BOS. A small illegible signature-like scrawl in white appears at the top left of the front of the jacket.
• The Dust Jacket: Present. Illustrated jacket with a playing-card design on purple, toned, with a brown spot and a round stain to the front, a mottled back panel and light edge creasing. The inside flap is repaired with yellowed tape. Protected by a clear library-style film, and best kept in a durable archival-type plastic cover.

Synopsis & Historical Value

Skoppens Vier is an Afrikaans novel by C. F. Beyers-Boshoff, published in Pretoria by J. P. van der Walt en Seun. It follows four loners who share an old warehouse: a struggling writer, a painter, a short Italian who makes and sells dolls on a street corner, and a fisherman with a secret.

Each of the four is chasing happiness and each has a past to come to terms with. The story likens their lives to a card game with winners and losers, a conceit echoed in the playing-card design of the dust jacket.

Beyers-Boshoff was among the most prolific Afrikaans popular writers of his generation, and this is a collectible example of his work in the original publisher's binding and jacket, with the library history of a copy that was lent and read over many years.

Author Profile: C. F. Beyers-Boshoff

Christiaan Frederik Beyers-Boshoff (1926-1989) was born at Potgietersrus. He studied languages at the University of Pretoria and worked as a journalist before turning to full-time writing.

He is credited with more than a hundred novels and youth stories, as well as film scripts and radio serials, and also wrote under the pseudonym Dot Malan. His best-known radio serial was Ongewenste vreemdeling, and eleven of his stories were made into films. He is perhaps best remembered for the Jasper youth series, the first title of which dates from 1959.

Skoppens Vier Beyers-Boshoff · C. F. Beyers-Boshoff novel · Afrikaans novel with dust jacket · J. P. van der Walt en Seun Pretoria · Dot Malan Beyers-Boshoff author · vintage Afrikaans fiction · ex-library Afrikaans hardcover