Trekking On Author: Deneys Reitz
Trekking On (Collectible First Edition Era Memoir)
The Spectacular, Fearless, and Unvarnished Frontline Diary of World War I Combat, Trench Warfare, and the Exile Campaigns, Penned by a Legendary Boer Guerrilla Turned British Regular Colonel
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Trekking On
- Author: Deneys Reitz
- Publisher: Faber and Faber Limited, London
- Publication Date: March 1943
- ISBN-10: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
- ISBN-13: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
- Edition Details: Sixth Impression (March 1943). Published in uniform styling with his other 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), 256 pages. Enhanced with an authoritative collection of full-page photographic plates, frontline troop group portraits, and detailed operational 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 an increased degree of overall fading across the covers compared to the companion volume, which is naturally most 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 1943, 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, text underlining, deep foxing, or loose leaves.
- Provenance: Heavily elevated by consecutive layers of historic ownership. Features the beautiful, matching engraved custom bookplate on the front cover verso, along with the handwritten ink signature on the front free endpaper.
Provenance & Bookplate Analysis
This volume carries the exact matching, consecutive trail of ownership that mirrors its companion book, beautifully preserving its lifecycle within the same prominent libraries:
This volume carries the exact matching, consecutive trail of ownership that mirrors its companion book, beautifully preserving its lifecycle within the same prominent libraries:
- The Bookplate (Ex Libris Walter J Petersen): Affixed cleanly to the verso of the front cover is the matching, 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 Pen Signature (Owen): Neatly written in ink on the front free endpaper (ffep) is the identical matching ownership name Owen. Unlike the companion volume, (https://timeless-collectible-books.com/products/no-outspan-author-deneys-reitz?_pos=1&_sid=d548f2879&_ss=r) this specific copy has no partial white price-sticker underneath the name Owen, indicating it was signed directly on the clean page. This consecutive pairing adds fantastic value, anchoring the books' journeys together within the historic libraries of Johannesburg.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Published in London in March 1943 under strict wartime resource quotas, Trekking On is the gripping and universally acclaimed second chapter in the monumental biographical trilogy of Deneys Reitz. Serving as the direct sequel to his iconic Anglo-Boer War classic Commando, this volume records his incredible, emotionally complex journey through the devastating global campaigns of the First World War.
Published in London in March 1943 under strict wartime resource quotas, Trekking On is the gripping and universally acclaimed second chapter in the monumental biographical trilogy of Deneys Reitz. Serving as the direct sequel to his iconic Anglo-Boer War classic Commando, this volume records his incredible, emotionally complex journey through the devastating global campaigns of the First World War.
The narrative opens with Reitz in bitter self-imposed exile in Madagascar, having refused to sign the oath of allegiance to the British Crown after the fall of the Boer republics. Coaxed back to South Africa by General Jan Smuts, the text chronicles his swift, fascinating transition into a loyal officer of the new Union defense forces. Reitz details the high-stakes mobilization to suppress the gewapende 1914-Rebellie of his former commando brothers, the brutal desert warfare against German forces in South West Africa, and the grueling, disease-ridden campaign through the jungles of German East Africa under Smuts's direct command.
The dramatic climax of the book follows his deployment to the Western Front in Europe, where he rose to command the 1st Royal Scots Fusiliers. Reitz delivers a clinical, terrifyingly honest account of trench warfare, navigating the devastating German Spring Offensive of 1918, gas attacks, and the chaotic final advance to the Rhine. Written with his legendary directness, dry wit, and cinematic narrative pacing, this well-preserved 1943 wartime printing serves as an essential reference standard for advanced military historians and serious collections of 20th-century literature.
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 trekking on deneys reitz faber 1943 rare book anglo boer war jan smuts royal scots fusiliers first world war western front trenches east africa rebellion used copy spine fading wartime paper stock walter j petersen johannesburg bookplate owen signature
