Samuel Rolland (1801-1873) by Frantz Balfet
Samuel Rolland (1801-1873) (Afrikaans Missionary Biography in Dust Jacket)
A Biography of the French Missionary Who Founded Beersheba in the Free State, Edited by Karel Schoeman
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Samuel Rolland (1801-1873): Pionier van die sending in die Vrystaat
- Author: Frantz Balfet
- Editor: Karel Schoeman
- Publisher: Human & Rousseau, Kaapstad ; Pretoria
- Publication Date: 1984
- ISBN-10: 0798116595
- Edition Details: Eerste uitgawe (First Edition), as stated on the verified record. Vrijstatia series, no. 2. Afrikaans translation of the French biography.
- Binding: Publisher's olive-green cloth boards with a printed orange dust jacket; the jacket spine is tan with title lettering and the publisher's monogram.
- Physical Format: Octavo-size hardcover, 142 pages. Jacket carries a portrait photograph.
- Language: Afrikaans
Official Condition Report
- The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Boards: The plain olive-green cloth boards are clean, with a few tiny pale specks. Spine edges and corners are square.
- Interior: The text block is clean, on cream paper, with no foxing or markings on the pages seen. The binding is tight. The fore-edge is slightly ruffled, with small notches or nicks along the edge of some leaves.
- The Dust Jacket: Present. The orange jacket carries a portrait photograph on the front. The front panel has a pale, rubbed patch across the dates 1801-1873 where ink or surface has been lost. The back panel shows blotchy, lighter patches and mottled marks, apparently surface wear or staining. The edges are slightly worn, and the spine shows slight wear at head and tail. The jacket is protected in a durable archival-type plastic cover.
Synopsis & Historical Value
Samuel Rolland (1801-1873): Pionier van die sending in die Vrystaat is a biography of the French Protestant missionary Samuel Rolland, who worked with the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society in the interior of southern Africa. In 1835 he founded the multi-ethnic mission settlement of Beerseba on the Caledon River, and he helped translate parts of the New Testament, which were printed at Beerseba from 1845.
The narrative follows the early history of the Beersheba station, including the building of the school and chapel and the threats it faced. It centres on the destruction of Rolland's station in 1858 during the First Basotho War and the expulsion of the French missionaries from the Free State by the Volksraad in 1866.
The Afrikaans edition was published in 1984 by Human & Rousseau as number 2 in the Vrijstatia series, edited by Karel Schoeman. It is a useful source for the history of mission work, the Free State republic and its relations with the Basotho, and the work has been cited in later scholarly writing on the region.
Samuel Rolland missionary biography · Frantz Balfet Samuel Rolland · Beersheba mission Free State history · Vrijstatia series Human & Rousseau · Karel Schoeman editor · Afrikaans missionary history · Free State mission history book
