Wine and Wisdom: Four Reflections Author: Marthinus Versfeld
Wine and Wisdom: Four Reflections Marthinus Versfeld (Collectible First Edition Copy)
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Wine and Wisdom: Four Reflections
- Author: Marthinus Versfeld (with Merwe Scholtz, I.L. de Villiers, and Dr. J.A. van Zyl)
- Photographer: Chris Jansen
- Publisher: Tafelberg Publishers Ltd, Cape Town (Published to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the KWV)
- Publication Date: 1978
- ISBN-10: 0624011704
- ISBN-13: 9780624011705
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing (Collectible Commemorative Release)
- Binding: Original publisher's premium hardcover cloth boards, complete with the original illustrated dust jacket, now beautifully preserved and stabilized inside a clear Cellophane archival sleeve.
- Physical Format: Large Octavo / Quarto (4to), 82 pages. Artistically enhanced with masterclass documentary photographic plates and intimate portraits captured by legendary South African photographer Chris Jansen.
- Language: English (Simultaneously released in Afrikaans as Wyn en wysheid)
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Very Good (VG)
- Exterior / Boards: The original publisher's cloth casing remains structurally robust, square-cornered, and remarkably flat. The spine is completely uncreased, unbruised, and straight, with crisp head and tail bands showing no signs of shelf-bumping.
- Interior: The inner hinges and binding are pristine and tight. Internal pages and art-paper photographic plates are clean, crisp, and completely intact. Free from standard consumer ink inscriptions, vineyard stains, or dealer pencil annotations.
- Preservation: Meticulously looked after, carefully maintained, and now fully stabilized in a premium Cellophane sleeve to shield the binding from future edge wear.
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The Dust Jacket: Very Good Minus (VG-)
- Condition: Present, complete, and unclipped. Displays limited, minor signs of storage shelf wear, light edge rubbing, and superficial wrinkling along the perimeter borders and spine tips. Beautifully consolidated, bright, and seamlessly showcased beneath the protective archival Cellophane wrap.
Synopsis & Philosophical Value
Published in 1978 by Tafelberg to commemorate the milestone 60th anniversary of the KWV, Wine and Wisdom: Four Reflections stands as a monumental landmark of South African intellectual and cultural literature. Of all alcoholic beverages, wine is the most ancient and revered. In this book, with its common theme of wine, four very different men reflect on why this should be so.
Leading the collection is the legendary philosopher Marthinus Versfeld, whose chapter skips beyond the strict cages of abstract thinking to celebrate the act of sharing wine as finding the miraculous in everyday life. He connects the slow maturation of fine wine to the human attainment of true wisdom, blending Western philosophy, Augustinian theology, and Eastern insights from Zen and Taoism. Paired with evocative reflections from literary critic Merwe Scholtz, theologian I.L. de Villiers, and a medical perspective from Dr. J.A. van Zyl—all brought to life by the stunning photography of Chris Jansen—this scarce volume stands as an indispensable masterpiece for fine wine collectors, philosophers, and connoisseurs of rare Africana.
Author Profile: Marthinus Versfeld
Professor Marthinus (Martin) Versfeld (1909–1995) was one of South Africa’s greatest, most unique, and fiercely independent philosophers and essayists. Educated at the University of Cape Town and Glasgow University, he served for decades as a legendary Professor of Philosophy at UCT. An outspoken, early moral critic of apartheid, Versfeld was an intellectual pioneer who introduced ecological philosophy and Oriental wisdom to South African academia. Renowned for his profound insights into food and wine and how they shape human values, his beloved works—including Pots and Poetry and Our Selves—are celebrated for their flawless prose, rich wit, and deep humanism, leaving behind a lasting legacy that treated everyday life as a sacred art form.
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