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Gordon, R.E : Dear Louisa : History of a Pioneer Family in Natal 1850-1888, Ellen McLeod's letters to her sister in England from the Byrne Valley

Balkema, 1970

Signed by Author(s)the jacket is shelf rubbed. the spine is darkened. there are a few spots of foxing and a few small tears. the book is signed by Gordon. there are no other inscriptions and the binding is excellent, square and tight.. Book Condition: Very Good. Binding: Hardcover. Jacket: Good

1st Edition.
signed

Gordon, R.E : Dear Louisa. History of a Pioneer Family in Natal 1850-1888. Ellen McLeod's letters to her sister in England from the Byrne Valley

(Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter, 1985) 0869858513

ISBN 0869858513

Signed by the author on the title page. 244 x 174 mm; pictorial wrappers; pp. xii + 280, incl. index; photographs; line drawings; maps and tables. Wrappers a little spotted, with trace of fishmothing; a little light spotting to edges and occasionally elsewhere. Good condition. "In response to continuous public demand, Dear Louisa now reappears - this time in its third edition. This collection of letters, written over a period of some thirty-eight years by the pioneers of Byrne Valley, reveals the thoughts and actions of many courageous people and their unique way of life. As a record of hardship, endurance and fidelity, Dear Louisa never fails to impress the modern reader."

Gordon, R. E : Dear Louisa. History of a Pioneer Family in Natal 1850 - 1888. Ellen McLeod's Letters to Her Sister in England from the Byrne Valley

(Cape Town: A. A. Balkema, 1970)

8vo; original brown rexine-backed papered boards, lettered in gilt on spine and with publisher's gilt device to upper cover; dustwrapper; tinted top edge; pp. xi + (i) + 280, incl. index; frontis. facsimile; photographic plates; line drawings in text; maps and plans; genealogical tables. Dustwrapper soiled and edgeworn; gift inscription to front free endpaper; edges a little stained and foxed; sporadic foxing throughout. Good condition, in a fair dustwrapper. A minor classic of Natal settler history, here in its first edition. "The interest of the reading public has been focussed on the arrival of the 1820 Settlers ... Only 30 years later Natal saw the arrival of its settlers, the Byrne people and smaller groups under Bergtheil, Irons, Boast and others. By these people Natal was populated after the unfortunate exodus of the first Trekker farmers, and there are even now to be found many pocket communities in the province whose roots were firmly planted in the 1850's, and who are proud of their pioneering traditions. Such a community is to be found in the Byrne Valley, about 8 miles from Richmond in Natal. The McLeods were the first British family to settle there; from this remote spot Ellen McLeod wrote for 38 years continuously the letters reproduced in this book. They were sent to her sister Louisa in England & are arranged into a historical narrative that endeavours to clarify and fill in the background of Natal events. This is a story typical of all settler experience; in addition it reveals a woman of character whose personality has lingered in the valley she loved."

GORDON, R. E : Dear Louisa. History of a Pioneer Family in Natal 1850-1888. Ellen McLeod's letters to her sister in England from the Byrne Valley

T.W.Griggs, Durban, 1999

A fine copy in the original thin card pictorial wrappers as issued.

4th Edition

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