Salute to a Great South African

Salute to a Great South African (Commemorative 1950 Photographic Tribute to Smuts)

A Photographic Memorial to Field Marshal Jan Smuts, Issued in the Year of His Death

Bibliographic Specifications

• Title: Salute to a Great South African: Jan Christiaan Smuts, May 24, 1870 - September 11, 1950
• Publication Date: 1950
• ISBN: None Issued (Pre-ISBN Era)
• Binding: Publisher's illustrated photographic card wrappers, stapled, in the manner of a magazine-style issue.
• Physical Format: Large-format, roughly A4-sized stapled pamphlet. Heavily illustrated with black and white photographs. Original cover price 2/6.
• Language: English

Official Condition Report

• The Book: Good (G)
• Exterior / Wraps: The photographic wrappers are stapled and show honest age and handling wear. The front cover has creasing and small chips with white edge wear along the fore-edge, top corner and right edge. The back cover has creases, including one at the left. The spine is worn, with a rough fold, paper loss and flaking, and the staples can be seen through splits in the spine paper. The lower edge is slightly rubbed.
• Interior: The binding is sound and the staples hold. The pages seen are clean and cream, with no visible marks. There is slight toning and soft creasing to the inside front leaf.
• The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued)

Synopsis & Historical Value

Salute to a Great South African is a commemorative photographic tribute to Jan Christiaan Smuts (24 May 1870 to 11 September 1950), produced in the weeks after his death in 1950. It is a magazine-style publication that tells his story largely through captioned black and white photographs.

The pictures follow his long public life and include his wartime visits to Britain. A tribute from Clement Attlee is quoted, and a note on the back cover records that his ashes were strewn on a koppie near Doornkloof.

Smuts played a central part in the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910 and in the drafting of its constitution. This pamphlet preserves how the country marked his passing at the time. It is ephemera rather than a formal biography, and it suits collectors of Smuts material and of mid-century South African commemorative publications.

Jan Smuts commemorative pamphlet · Salute to a Great South African 1950 · Smuts tribute 1950 photographs · General Smuts memorial magazine · Jan Christiaan Smuts Africana ephemera · Smuts death 1950 souvenir