The Rise of South Africa: A History Of The Origin Of South African Colonisation And Of Its Development Towards The East From The Earliest Times To 1857 by G.E. Cory
Scarce
The Rise of South Africa: A History Of The Origin Of South African Colonisation And Of Its Development Towards The East From The Earliest Times To 1857 by G.E. Cory
Hardcover
Publisher: Struik Publishers 1965
Facsimile reprint of the Longmans Green edition published in the years 1910 1913 1919 1926 1930 & 1940. No inscriptions with light foxing here & there top edges affected else conservatively - overall in VG condition. No dustwrappers. A nice clean attractive set with excellent shelf appearance, the 6 volumes are a nice dark olive green with bright gilt lettering - as usual for this set. 6 volumes. 8vo. gilt title on green skivertex boards with blind-stamped device to front.
Volumes 1-6: Condition: Very Good. The original printed boards without a DJ are slightly shelf rubbed and edge worn/bumped. Minimal tape residue marks on the first pages and on the last end pages. Small previous owner name stamp on the first pages. Slight tanning of pages.
A history of the origin of South African colonisation and of its development towards the east from the earliest times to 1857. Vols 1-5 published by Longmans Green from 1910-1930. From 'The Archives Yearbook for South African History': "It was at first Sir George's intention to conclude his history in four volumes, with the year 1846; but he subsequently extended his work to cover the year 1857 and expanded the text to six volumes." Vols 1-2 have: "In four volumes" on title page. Vols 3-5 have: "In six volumes" on title page. Vol. 6 (ch. 1-6) was published by the Archives of the Union of South Africa in 1940.
Contents spreaded through the current 6 Volumes:
-fold-out map 'South Africa, to illustrate history to 1820. Introductory; Early troubles in Graaff Reinet; The influence of revolution in Europe; Continued struggle for existence; The Eastern Province under Batavian rule; The Eastern Province struggles for existence; Influence of Bethelsdorp in moulding Eastern Province history; The struggle for the Zuurveld; The new system of land tenure; Continued trouble with Kaffirland; Slagter's Nek; Combined movement against Kaffir chiefs - The battle of Grahamstown.
-fold-out map of 'the Eastern Province of the Cape Colony'. Contents: British colonisation of the Cape; The first year of the settlement; Developments, difficulties and discouragement; Lord Charles Somerset and the Settlers; Per Aspera Ad Astra; Need for reform in the Cape Judicature; The trials of Lord Charles Somerset; The administration of Major-General Bourke; Tantaene animus caelestibus irae; In the shadow of the storm.
- fold-out map of Albany, Victoria & Somerset and the Province of Queen Adelaide. Contents: Slavery at the Cape; The first week of the Kaffir War of 1835; From the Colonist's point of view; The campaign in Kaffirland; Kaffirland (continued);
-The aftermath; South African affairs in England; Stockenstrom's policy; Storm and struggle in the Eastern Province; The end of the Stockenstrom regime.
- The Boer Trek; Establishment of the Dutch Republic in Natal; Boer versus Briton in Natal; Annexation of Natal; Developments of the period 1838 to 1846; The beginning of the Orange Free State; The aftermatch of the Trek; Increasing Kaffir trouble in the East; Beginning of the war of 1846; The Kaffir War of 1846.
- The reign of Sir Henry Pottinger; East versus West; The establishment of British Kaffraria; The Sovereignty Rebellion; The convict agitation; Representative government for Cape Colony; Outbreak of the Kaffir War of 1850-53; The Hottentot Rebellion; The Kaffir War continued; Further trouble in the Orange River Sovereignty; The war brought to an end vol.6 1854-1857.
About the Author:
Sir George Edward Cory (3 June 1862 in Stoke Newington – 28 April 1935 in Cape Town), was an English-born South African chemist and historian, best known for his six-volume publication "The Rise of South Africa".
Thus the first volume of The Rise of South Africa appeared in 1910. The success of this volume was such that the Rhodes Trustees sponsored further work and accordingly volumes 2 and 3 were published in 1913 and 1919, volume 4 in 1926 and volume 5 in 1930. Cambridge honoured Cory with a Doctor of Letters in 1921, and the following year he received a knighthood. Volume 6 of his work appeared posthumously in the Archives Year Book for 1939. Some time in 1915 Cory wrote and published, in a small print run, a paper entitled "A short history of slavery at the Cape.”
Cory, and George McCall Theal, have been branded as "settler" historians, although their goal was never to glorify settler history, and the pair have been undeservedly relegated to obscurity by some historians, notably Christopher Saunders and William Miller Macmillan. Even though his methods were meticulous and groundbreaking, Cory was rankled by the 'amateur' label affixed to him by professional historians. He was a pioneer in his use of "conversations" for gathering information. Previously, documentation was the only accepted medium considered reliable by others working in the same field.
