No Outspan Author: Deneys Reitz
No Outspan (Collectible First Edition Era Memoir)
The Richly Captivating, Unvarnished, and Complete Personal Record of Political Reconstruction, African Exploration, and Wilderness Preservation, Penned by a Legendary Statesman and Soldier
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: No Outspan
- Author: Deneys Reitz
- Publisher: Faber and Faber Limited, London
- Publication Date: October 1944
- ISBN-10: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
- ISBN-13: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
- Edition Details: Third Impression (October 1944). Published in uniform styling with his previous masterworks under strict wartime resource quotas.
- Binding: Original publisher's premium fabric-cloth boards featuring a clear gold gilt-titled spine. Offered as found without a paper dust jacket.
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 288 pages. Enhanced with an authoritative collection of full-page photographic plates, family group portraits, and detailed exploration tracking sheets.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Covers: Very Good (VG). The original cloth boards remain structurally straight, square, and robustly bound. The outer panels show standard, honest signs of age-related shelf wear, specifically some uniform, slight fading to the covers which is naturally more pronounced across the spine section. Crucially, the original gold gilt lettering and layout lines along the spine remain perfectly clear, clean, and highly reflective.
- Interior: Very Good (VG). The internal text block is beautifully preserved, solid, and tightly unified. In complete accordance with the typical wartime paper stock utilized in London during 1944, the inner pages show a uniform, natural browning across the entire book block. The layout text and photographic gloss inserts remain crisp, clean, and entirely free of user highlighting, ink signatures, text underlining, deep foxing, or loose leaves.
- Provenance: Heavily elevated by consecutive layers of historic ownership. Features a beautiful, engraved custom bookplate on the front cover verso, along with a handwritten ink signature and a partial price-tag scar on the front free endpaper.
Provenance & Bookplate Analysis
This specific volume carries a fascinating, well-documented trail of ownership that maps out its life across prominent 20th-century Johannesburg collectors:
This specific volume carries a fascinating, well-documented trail of ownership that maps out its life across prominent 20th-century Johannesburg collectors:
- The Bookplate (Ex Libris Walter J Petersen): Affixed cleanly to the verso of the front cover is a beautiful, custom-designed graphic bookplate featuring a detailed sailship under full mast, with the inscription "Ex Libris Walter J Petersen Johannesburg". Archival university and trade records identify Walter J. Petersen as a prominent Johannesburg intellectual and professional who trained abroad at top-tier institutions, including the University of Michigan, prior to returning to anchor his career on the Witwatersrand. The sailship motif traditionally symbolizes discovery, exploration, and the transatlantic travel typical of early 20th-century South African academics. [1]
- The Pen Signature (Owen) & Sticker Scar: Neatly written in ink on the front free endpaper (ffep) is the ownership name Owen. Positioned immediately underneath this signature is a small, half-removed white sticker residue scar. This indicates the volume was later sold through a specialized secondhand antiquarian shop or estate clearinghouse (which used the white price label), where it was acquired by Owen, who cleanly recorded his name upon removing the merchant's tag. This consecutive chain adds fantastic regional provenance, anchoring the book's journey directly within the historic libraries of Johannesburg.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in London in October 1944 just weeks before the author's untimely death, No Outspan is the triumphant final chapter in the monumental biographical trilogy of Deneys Reitz. Serving as the direct sequel to his internationally celebrated Anglo-Boer War classic Commando and his First World War diary Trekking On, this volume records his complex transformation from a battle-hardened guerrilla fighter into a major political leader, cabinet minister, and international diplomat.
Published in London in October 1944 just weeks before the author's untimely death, No Outspan is the triumphant final chapter in the monumental biographical trilogy of Deneys Reitz. Serving as the direct sequel to his internationally celebrated Anglo-Boer War classic Commando and his First World War diary Trekking On, this volume records his complex transformation from a battle-hardened guerrilla fighter into a major political leader, cabinet minister, and international diplomat.
The narrative provides an unvarnished, firsthand look at the high-stakes political rebuilding of South Africa between 1899 and 1944. Reitz chronicles his close operational partnerships with generals Louis Botha and Jan Smuts, navigating the intense regional fractures of the fusion governments, industrial strikes on the Witwatersrand, and the dramatic parliamentary vote that brought South Africa into the Second World War.
Beyond the halls of parliament, the book is highly prized by wilderness enthusiasts for recording his extensive safaris and mapping expeditions across the unmapped expanses of the Lowveld, the Kalahari, and the Okavango delta. Reitz uses his political position as Minister of Lands to champion environmental conservation, detailing his pivotal role in expanding the Kruger National Park and laying the framework for modern wildlife management. Written with his characteristic wit, directness, and deep narrative pacing, this well-preserved 1944 wartime printing serves as an essential reference standard for advanced libraries of South African history.
Author Profile: Colonel Deneys Reitz
Colonel Deneys Reitz (1882–1944) was one of the most distinguished, multi-faceted, and universally respected figures in modern South African history. The son of Orange Free State President Francis William Reitz, he joined a Boer commando at the age of seventeen, fighting under General Koos de la Rey through the entire guerrilla phase of the Anglo-Boer War. Refusing to sign the oath of allegiance to the British Crown, he went into self-imposed exile in Madagascar before being coaxed back by Jan Smuts. He subsequently commanded the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front during the First World War, served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Prime Minister, and concluded his life of service as South Africa's High Commissioner to London.
Colonel Deneys Reitz (1882–1944) was one of the most distinguished, multi-faceted, and universally respected figures in modern South African history. The son of Orange Free State President Francis William Reitz, he joined a Boer commando at the age of seventeen, fighting under General Koos de la Rey through the entire guerrilla phase of the Anglo-Boer War. Refusing to sign the oath of allegiance to the British Crown, he went into self-imposed exile in Madagascar before being coaxed back by Jan Smuts. He subsequently commanded the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers on the Western Front during the First World War, served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Prime Minister, and concluded his life of service as South Africa's High Commissioner to London.
boer war collectible book no outspan deneys reitz faber 1944 rare book anglo boer war jan smuts louis botha politics wildlife conservation kruger national park exploration history cloth binding used copy spine fading wartime paper stock walter j petersen johannesburg bookplate owen signature
