Offerland by F. A. Venter

Offerland (Afrikaans Great Trek Novel, Tafelberg 1963)

The Second Volume of F. A. Venter's Great Trek Tetralogy, Set Among the Voortrekker Families

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Offerland
• Author: F. A. Venter
• Publisher: Tafelberg-Uitgewers, Kaapstad
• Publication Date: 1963
• ISBN: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
• Edition Details: Tafelberg-Uitgewers, Kaapstad, 1963.
• Binding: Publisher's orange cloth hardcover, titled in black on the front board and spine, with a printed map of the Great Trek route to the endpapers.
• Physical Format: Octavo, approximately 20 cm tall. Printed route map to the pastedown endpapers.
• Language: Afrikaans

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Boards: The orange cloth boards are structurally sound, with black title lettering to the front and spine. The front board shows some brown spotting and staining and a few small, light scuffs. The back board carries several darker spots and marks. The spine is sunned to a lighter tan, with a small spot near the foot of the title. Corners and edges appear generally square, and the fore-edge is toned.
• Interior: The text block appears sound and firmly bound, and the book opens flat with clean, readable text. The pages are toned and cream-coloured, with light foxing or toning to the title page and the leaf following it. The pastedown endpapers carry a printed map in brown. No markings were seen in the text pages.
• The Dust Jacket: Not Present

Synopsis & Historical Value

Offerland is an Afrikaans historical novel by F. A. Venter, published by Tafelberg in Cape Town in 1963. It is the second book in his Great Trek tetralogy, which also includes Geknelde land, Gelofteland and Bedoelde land.

The novel follows the Voortrekker families and their leaders through the early phase of the Great Trek. Its events include the Battle of Vegkop, the punitive expedition against the Matabele, the crossing of the Drakensberg into Natal and the murder of Piet Retief. Piet Retief, Maritz, Dingaan and the Matabele all figure in its pages.

The printed route map on the endpapers, tracing the trek from the Eastern Cape to Natal and the Limpopo, adds to the period character of the volume. It will appeal to readers of Afrikaans literature and to collectors of Great Trek fiction and Afrikaner heritage.

Author Profile: F. A. Venter

Francois Alwyn Venter (1916-1997) was born in Hopetown. He studied at Stellenbosch and worked as a journalist in Cape Town, Windhoek and Johannesburg. In 1976 he retired to Strand to write full-time.

He received the Hertzog Prize for prose in 1961, and his Great Trek tetralogy appeared in the 1960s. His other notable works include Man van Ciréne, Geknelde Land and Wit Oemfaan.