Olé by André P. Brink
Olé (Ex-Library Copy of Brink's Spanish Travel Book)
André P. Brink's Afrikaans Travel Book on Spain, Presented in a Picasso Don Quixote Dust Jacket
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Olé: Reisboek oor Spanje
- Author: André P. Brink
- Publisher: Human & Rousseau, Kaapstad en Pretoria
- Publication Date: 1969
- Binding: Publisher's red cloth hardcover in an illustrated dust jacket, the cover showing Don Quixote and Sancho Panza after Picasso.
- Physical Format: Small octavo (8vo), roughly 20 x 13 cm. No maps or plates.
- Language: Afrikaans
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Good (G)
- Exterior / Boards: Red cloth boards, sound at the hinge. The condition of the boards beneath the jacket is otherwise not described here. A library spine label (AFR / BRI) is fixed at the foot of the spine. Please see the dust jacket section for the wear to the jacket.
- Interior: The pages are clean and the text is legible. The binding is sound and the book opens normally. There is a toned patch on an endpaper or blank leaf and a tiny dark speck on a blank page. As an ex-library copy it carries a library stamp and a green price label.
- Provenance: Ex-library copy: stamp "SAN SERENO LIBRARY", green price label "ZR 1.95", handwritten "2011", and spine label "AFR / BRI".
- The Dust Jacket: Present but worn. The head of the spine is chipped and torn with a section missing that exposes the red cloth beneath, and there is a further tear and loss at the centre of the spine. There is creasing and edge wear, small chips at the lower corners, and toning with darker staining on the back panel. Library marks appear on the spine. The jacket is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Olé: Reisboek oor Spanje ("A Travel Book on Spain") is an Afrikaans travel book by André P. Brink, published by Human & Rousseau. It ranges across Spain and its history, and the sample text deals with the Moorish invasion and the early story of the peninsula.
The book won the Central News Agency award for Afrikaans literature. It appeared in the 1960s, when Brink was emerging as one of the leading voices of the Sestigers, the generation of Afrikaans writers who reshaped the literature of the day.
Brink's travel writing on Spain was later gathered, with other Mediterranean pieces, in a 2013 Human & Rousseau collection. This copy suits collectors of Brink and of Afrikaans travel literature. The jacket is worn and the copy is ex-library, and it is described accordingly.
Author Profile: André P. Brink
André Philippus Brink (1935–2015) was born in Vrede in the Orange Free State and died in Amsterdam. He was a prominent member of the Sestigers, the Afrikaans writers' movement of the 1960s. He taught at Rhodes University from 1961 to 1990 and later became a professor of English at the University of Cape Town.
His novel Kennis van die aand was the first Afrikaans book to be banned by the South African government. His other notable works include Looking on Darkness, Rumours of Rain and A Dry White Season. He was twice nominated for the Booker Prize.
André P. Brink Olé · Brink Reisboek oor Spanje · Afrikaans travel book Spain · Human & Rousseau Brink · Sestigers travel writing · André Brink 1960s first Afrikaans edition
