a poet in South Africa
PRINGLE, Thomas.
Narrative of a residence in South Africa …
London, William Tegg, 1864.
8vo, pp. xvi, 116; woodcut of hippopotamus to title, text in two columns within ruled frame; toned, a little spotting; good in original brown cloth boards, rebacked with red morroco, spine lettered in gilt; some marks to covers and wear to corners; inscription at head of title dated 1891.
Rare 1864 edition summarising the formative years spent in South Africa by Thomas Pringle, a well-known Scottish abolitionist and the so-called ‘Father of South African poetry’. The Pringle family first decided to emigrate to South Africa in 1820, with Thomas Pringle – by then a published poet and writer for Blackwood’s Magazine – taking charge as the pro tempore leader. Their destination was a valley near ‘Baviaan’s River’, and their settlement was afterwards known as ‘Glen Lynden’. Following two years there, Pringle returned to Cape Town, where he was appointed librarian of the South African Library, opened an academy, and started The South African Journal alongside John Fairbairn. Due to the ‘bitter opposition’ of Lord Charles Somerset however his prospects in South Africa were ruined and he was forced to return to England, where he was appointed secretary of the ‘Anti-Slavery Society’. Despite his best efforts, he was unable to return to South Africa.
His account, which summarises his stay in South Africa and gives some valuable information on the Boers, was first published in 1834 alongside a number of Pringle’s poems (Pringle had initially planned to publish the work as early as 1824 but was delayed by his work for the abolitionist society); a second edition was published in 1835. This edition stems from 1864: while it includes the narrative and the biographical sketch by Josiah Conder, it omits Pringle’s poems.
Mendelssohn II, pp. 187-188. Not on OCLC.
