Gedenkboek van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Gemeente Swartland by Ds. A. P. Smit & M.A.

Gedenkboek van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Gemeente Swartland (Ex-Library Copy of 1945 Swartland Congregational History)

A Bicentenary History of the Swartland Dutch Reformed Congregation, Malmesbury, 1745 to 1945

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Gedenkboek van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Gemeente Swartland: Tweede Eeufees (1745 — 1945)
• Authors: Ds. A. P. Smit & M.A.
• Publisher: N.G. Kerkraad, Malmesbury; printed by Nasionale Pers, Beperk, Kaapstad
• Binding: Publisher's blue cloth boards, gilt and black blocking to front board, black lettering to spine.
• Physical Format: Octavo, roughly 220 x 150 mm. Illustrated with black-and-white photographic plates.
• Language: Afrikaans

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Boards: Blue cloth boards with gilt and black blocking to the front. The front board shows scattered yellowish-green spotting, and the back board has fewer specks. The spine head is frayed and chipped, and the tail also shows fraying. A hand-written library number, A116, appears in white over the spine title. Visible wear consistent with a former library copy.
• Interior: The text block appears intact, with toned pages. Brown foxing and staining spots are present on the endpapers, especially near the top edge and lower corner. The front hinge shows exposed cloth and gauze and is cracking near the gutter. A photographic plate is present. Former library markings include a purple stamp, library numbers in pencil and ink on the endpapers, and a bookplate label.
• Provenance: Purple stamp on the endpapers: 'Star of the Sea Convent School Library.' Ex Libris John Kriel label pasted to a pastedown. Pencil inscription: 'J.S. Kriel Darling 1990'. Library accession numbers written inside (e.g. 960, 1757, 157).
• The Dust Jacket: Not Present

Synopsis & Historical Value

Gedenkboek van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Gemeente Swartland, subtitled Tweede Eeufees (1745 to 1945), is a commemorative history of the Dutch Reformed congregation of Swartland in the Malmesbury district. It was published for the congregation's two hundredth anniversary and traces its ministers, church council and parish life across two centuries.

The Swartland congregation, founded in 1745, ranks among the oldest in the Dutch Reformed Church, and this volume is cited by scholars as a source on the eighteenth-century minister M.C. Vos. For researchers of Western Cape church history, local genealogy and the settlement of the Swartland, congregational memorials of this kind remain valuable primary reference works.

Sellers also list the book under the alternative title Na Tweehonderd Jaar. This copy carries the marks of its past life in a school library, which will interest collectors of provenance as well as those seeking a working reference copy.

Author Profile: Ds. A. P. Smit

Abraham Petrus Smit (1909 to 1979) was a Dutch Reformed minister and church historian, born near Redelinghuys. Ordained in December 1934, he served the congregation of Philadelphia from 1936 to 1942, and later became the third archivist of the Kaapse Kerk, retiring from that post in 1974.

He wrote a number of congregational histories, including those of Beaufort-Wes, Philadelphia, Koeberg and Riversdal. The Swartland memorial book was reworked from his M.A. thesis for the 1945 celebrations.

Swartland NG gemeente gedenkboek · A. P. Smit Swartland 1745 1945 · Malmesbury church history · Dutch Reformed congregation history Afrikaans · Na Tweehonderd Jaar Swartland · Western Cape church centenary book