A Trader's Century: The Fortunes Of Frasers By Christopher Danziger
A Trader's Century: The Fortunes Of Frasers By Christopher Danziger (Collectible First Edition)
A Landmark Corporate History of Trading Empires, Blanket Barons, and the Economic Interlocking of Lesotho and the Witwatersrand
A Landmark Corporate History of Trading Empires, Blanket Barons, and the Economic Interlocking of Lesotho and the Witwatersrand
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: A Trader's Century: The Fortunes Of Frasers
- Author: Christopher Danziger
- Publisher: Purnell & Sons S.A. Ltd, Cape Town / Johannesburg
- Publication Date: 1979
- ISBN-10: 0868430242
- ISBN-13: 9780868430247
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing (Collectible Copy)
- Binding: Original publisher's premium hardcover cloth boards, complete with the original illustrated dust jacket, now beautifully preserved in a clear Cellophane archival sleeve.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), featuring historic corporate photographs, archival documents, map layouts, and detailed accounts of early mercantile trade in Southern Africa.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Boards: The publisher's cloth casing remains structurally strong, flat, and square-cornered. The spine text is perfectly crisp, bright, and completely undamaged at the head and tail bands, exhibiting no leaning or board warping.
- Interior: The text block is structurally tight, secure, and resiliently bound. Internal pages are clean, crisp, and intact. Free from standard consumer ink inscriptions, store ownership stamps, or dealer pencil annotations.
- Preservation: This volume has been meticulously looked after, carefully maintained, and is now protected inside a clear Cellophane wrap to shield the binding from future edge wear.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good Minus (VG-)
- Condition: Present, complete, and unclipped. Displays limited, minor signs of vintage shelf wear and light surface rubbing along the perimeter borders. Beautifully stabilized, clean, and seamlessly showcased beneath the protective archival Cellophane cover.
Synopsis & Mercantile History Value
Published in 1979, A Trader's Century: The Fortunes Of Frasers is the fascinating story of how a massive commercial empire was woven directly into the economic fabric of Southern Africa. Written by acclaimed historian Christopher Danziger, the narrative fits together an intricate jigsaw puzzle of historical forces spanning a century of immense change. The diverse pieces of this story take the form of powerful African chiefs, English peers, grain, traditional Basotho blankets, ploughs, and eventually, modern color television sets.
Danziger masterfully traces how these separate elements interlocked across the rugged terrain of the Maluti mountains in Lesotho and out toward the massive urban conurbations of the Witwatersrand. It documents the evolution of Frasers from a network of isolated, rural trading posts bartering basic commodities into a sophisticated 20th-century retail and wholesale powerhouse. This rare corporate history serves as a vital cornerstone volume for collectors of South African business history, economic histories of Lesotho, and early colonial mercantile Africana.
Author Profile: Christopher Danziger
Christopher Danziger is a highly distinguished South African historian, author, and academic who read history at Oxford University before embarking on a prominent career in historical research and education. Celebrated for his ability to translate complex socio-economic developments into accessible, compelling narratives, Danziger has written numerous books focusing on South African history, regional conflict, and corporate evolution. His meticulous use of private company archives, letters, and regional data ensures that his documentation of the Fraser trading empire remains an authoritative reference work for researchers.
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