Die Lewe van D.F. Malan by Prof. dr. Bun Booyens

Die Lewe van D.F. Malan (Collectible 1969 Malan Biography in Dust Jacket)

The Standard Biography of D.F. Malan's Formative Years Before Politics, by a Stellenbosch Professor of Afrikaans Cultural History

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Die Lewe van D.F. Malan: Die Eerste Veertig Jaar
• Author: Prof. dr. Bun Booyens
• Publisher: Tafelberg-Uitgewers
• Publication Date: 1969
• Binding: Publisher's grey cloth hardcover, supplied with the original dust jacket.
• Physical Format: Large octavo, thick biography. Jacket flap carries an author photograph.
• Language: Afrikaans

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Very Good (VG)
• Exterior / Boards: The grey cloth boards are clean, with one tiny white fleck near the upper spine edge of the front board. The spine is straight and the corners appear sound.
• Interior: The pages are clean and evenly toned cream, with no markings in the text. There is light spotting at the gutter side of the inscribed front free endpaper and slight toning to the endpapers. The binding is tight and the book opens well.
• Provenance: Inscribed in blue ink on the front free endpaper in Afrikaans: "Aan Hennie, Uit 'n bari geseënde Kersfees. Van John, Lankies en Seuns. Kersfees 1972". No bookplates or stamps.
• The Dust Jacket: Present, in a durable archival-type plastic cover. The grey jacket with a photographic portrait on the front shows chipping and small losses along the front top-left edge and at the head and tail of the spine, a tear and a few small nicks to the front panel, edge wear to the back, and some creasing and marks. Roughly Good (G).

Synopsis & Historical Value

Die Lewe van D.F. Malan: Die Eerste Veertig Jaar (The Life of D.F. Malan: The First Forty Years) was published by Tafelberg-Uitgewers in 1969. It follows Daniel François Malan through the decades of his life before he entered politics.

Malan later became the first Afrikaner nationalist prime minister of the Union, serving from 1948 to 1954, and was a founder of Afrikaner nationalist parties whose government implemented many of South Africa's apartheid policies. This volume gives the background to the man before that career began.

The book is still cited as one of the two principal Malan biographies, alongside H.B. Thom's DF Malan of 1980, which takes up the story from 1925. One historian judged it thoroughly researched, while noting that the author's sympathy for his subject colours the treatment. It remains a useful source for students of Afrikaner nationalism and a worthwhile addition to a collection of Afrikaner political history.

Author Profile: Prof. dr. Bun Booyens

Bun Booyens (1916–2010) was born near Oudtshoorn and died in Somerset West. He lectured in History before taking up the post of professor of Afrikaans cultural history and folklore at Stellenbosch University, which he held from 1968 to 1981.

His other works include Solomon Caesar Malan, akwarelle (1971, with Otto Schröder), published by Human & Rousseau, and a study of the traditional hot-spring water cure in Afrikaner folk medicine (1981).

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