Majuba Gedenkboek: Uitgegee ter herdenking van die Boere se stryd ter verkryging van hul onafhanklikheid 'n eeu gelede - Dr J. H. Breytenbach and Kol. Dr Jan Ploeger
Majuba Gedenkboek (Numbered Limited Edition Copy No. 12/2000)
An Elite Centenary Commemoration of the Transvaal War of Independence and the Boer Triumph at Majuba Hill
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Majuba Gedenkboek: Uitgegee ter herdenking van die Boere se stryd ter verkryging van hul onafhanklikheid 'n eeu gelede
- Author: Dr J. H. Breytenbach and Kol. Dr Jan Ploeger
- Publisher: CUM Boeke, Roodepoort
- Publication Date: 1980
- ISBN-10: 086984184X
- ISBN-13: 9780869841846
- Edition Details: First Edition, Numbered Limited Prestige Printing. Copy Number 12 of a strict 2,000 copy run.
- Binding: Original publisher's ultra-premium rich green leatherette hardboards featuring elegant gilt title lettering and decorative borders stamped cleanly on the front cover and spine.
- Physical Format: Large Quarto (4to), 226 pages. Comprehensively supplemented with historical black-and-white plates, photographic archives, combat sketches, and tactical mapping sections.
- Language: Afrikaans
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Very Good Plus to Near Fine (VG+/NF)
- Exterior / Boards: The deluxe deep green covers are brilliantly square, crisp, and exceptionally bright. The decorative gilt artwork and lettering on both the face and spine are completely untarnished, sharp, and showcase maximum luster. Spine edges and corner tips are fundamentally unbumped and show virtually no shelf friction.
- Interior: The text block is robustly bound, impeccably tight, and crisp. Internal sheets, historical visual layouts, and endpapers are immaculately white and clean. Completely free from user highlighting, modern ownership names, dealer pencil notes, or dog-ears. An archival-grade presentation copy.
- The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable / Issued Without Jacket (This low-number premium variant was issued directly in deluxe stamped boards to emphasize its status as a library showpiece).
Synopsis & Historical Value
Commissioned to commemorate the centenary of the First Anglo-Boer War (1880–1881), Majuba Gedenkboek is an authoritative, meticulously constructed historical masterpiece. Compiled by legendary state historians Dr J.H. Breytenbach and Colonel Dr Jan Ploeger, this work provides a deeply analytical, day-by-day structural breakdown of the Boers' armed struggle to reclaim independence from British annexation. The book charts the tactical operational matrices that culminated in the stunning, decisive Boer victory over General Sir George Pomeroy Colley on the slopes of Majuba Hill on 27 February 1881. Given that this specific item represents one of the highly coveted single- or double-digit initial prints (No. 12 of 2000), it forms an exceptional, blue-chip addition for serious Africana collectors and military historians.
Author Profile: Dr J. H. Breytenbach & Kol. Dr Jan Ploeger
- Dr Johan Hendrik Breytenbach was arguably South Africa’s premier 20th-century state military historian. Appointed as the official government historian for the Anglo-Boer War, he authored the definitive, multi-volume monumental history series Die Geskiedenis van die Tweede Vryheidsoorlog in Suid-Afrika.
- Colonel Dr Jan Ploeger was a celebrated military academic, archivist, and officer within the South African Defence Force (SADF). His research specializing in transnational republican history earned him widespread international acclaim within historical societies.
