This morning in South Africa - BURCHELL'S TRAVELS IN CAPE TOWN

By Angelika Elstner

What a wonderful start to the day - the sun was shining after Cape Town had turned into a true "Cape of Storms" yesterday afternoon and we had started to wonder if anyone would brave the weather and come to see us at the Irma Stern museum. Yes they did - and they probably would have done so too in the pouring rain.

On a beautiful sunny autumn morning - we welcomed over 60 guests at one of Cape Town's most beloved museums to talk about one of the most famous explorers, William Burchell who is still largely unknown in his home country England.

Paul Mills of Clarke's Africana & Rare Books and AntiquarianAuctions.com introduced the speakers and explained the work of the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers and the meaning of UNESCO World Book Day.

Susan Buchanan, author of the recently published book "Burchell's Travels - The life, art and journeys of William John Burchell" (Penguin Random House South Africa) , gave the audience a fascinating insight into Burchell, the person.  Who was the man who landed in 1810 in Cape Town, 30 years old, after weeks on a ship and being left by his fiancée who meant to live with him but during the journey had fallen in love with the captain of the ship? Who then bought and equipped an ox waggon and embarked on an epic journey through the Cape Colony, lasting four years and covering 7000 kilometers, mainly through unexplored terrain?

Burchell was a remarkable explorer, naturalist, botanist, artist, cartographer, ethnographer and linguist. And he was a writer. None of the other pioneer travelers in the Cape, Peter Kolbe, Anders Sparrman, Carl Peter Thunberg, Francois Levaillant, John Barrow, would match his glittering literary style.

Dr John Rourke could have filled another entire evening with his interesting account of Burchell's legacy for botanical science. Burchell's meticulous and detailed observations and his vast collection of specimens which were shipped back to England, and his accuracy of drawings were unique. He collected over 50,000 plant and animal specimens and built up a vast collection of sketches and paintings.

Cartographers applaud Burchell's enormous map of the Cape Colony. Dr Roger Stewart who has done significant research and published widely on Burchell gave the audience a fascinating summary on Burchell's achievements as a cartographer. Burchell accurately charted his journey, providing meteorological data, distances travelled and very accurate measurements of latitude. Dr Roger Stewart's diverse publications on Burchell have certainly popularised his scientific genius, his artworks and his travels.

Many thanks to our speakers for the time they have invested to prepare for today's event. Thank you to Paul Mills and AntiquarianAuctions.com for the sponsorship and thank you to Penguin Random House South Africa for their contribution. For each book sold during the function, 100 South African Rand will go towards to the chosen charity. We will announce the final result shortly.

Thank you! See you again next year on the 23rd of April!

April 2016 – For immediate release. Pictures: ILAB, UNESCO, the organizers

9 pm, Cape Town, South Africa - THANK YOU FOR FOLLOWING OUR BLOG

April 2016 – For immediate release. Pictures: ILAB, UNESCO, the Organizers

POP UP IN CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA, ON UNESCO WORLD BOOK & COPYRIGHT DAY, APRIL 23, 2016

BURCHELL’S TRAVELS – THE LIFE, ART AND JOURNEYS OF WILLIAM JOHN BURCHELL 

ANTIQUARIANAUCTIONS.COM AN THE INTERNATIONAL LEAGUE OF ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSELLERS (ILAB)

On Saturday April 23, 2016 rare book dealers will focus world attention on rare books and associated materials. At this time, when UNESCO and many others throughout the world celebrate literacy, ILAB book dealers will once again run a worldwide 24 hour campaign to promote the trade and to raise money for literacy projects.

“The purpose of ILAB’s participation in World Book and Copyright Day is to spotlight rare books and bookselling while raising money for what is at the very foundation of all we do - literacy”, says Norbert Donhoffer, President of ILAB.

After a successful launch in 2015, AntiquarianAuctions.com, the online rare book auction platform based in Cape Town, South Africa, will participate once again in the international 24 hour event.  In association with publishing house Penguin Random House, AntiquarianAuctions.com will host a talk with Susan Buchanan, the author of the recently published “Burchell’s Travels: The Life, Art and Journeys of William John Burchell”, and other experts in the field.  Local collectors and botanists, local historians and the general public are invited and asked to make a donation on the day. All proceeds from the event will go to charity.

William John Burchell (23 July 1781 Fulham, London - 23 March 1863 Fulham) was an English explorer, naturalist, traveller, artist and author who arrived in Cape Town in November 1810 after several years as a naturalist on St Helena island. The following year he embarked on an epic journey through the Cape Colony, lasting four years and covering 7000 kilometres, mainly through unexplored terrain. During this time he collected over 50,000 plant and animal specimens and built a vast collection of sketches and paintings.  He is best known for his two-volume Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa, his extraordinary map of the country, and for the many species of animals, birds and plants that are named after him.

As he explained his own scientific curiosity with strong Romantic sensibilities in the preface to the Travels: “These collections consist of above sixty three thousand objects, inclusive of the duplicates, in every department of science… In addition to these results of the expedition, are about five hundred drawings, the subjects of which are landscapes, portraits, costume, zoology, botany, and a variety of other objects.”

Burchell is famous for his contribution to botany and Burchell’s  “Map of the Extratopical Part of Southern Africa” was a milestone in the mapping of South Africa. He completed his South African journey in April 1815. His life ended tragically. Suffering from depression, he took his own life in 1863.

To date, Burchell is regarded as a pioneer in botany and as scientific traveller. His work Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa is one of the most collectable Africana publications.

“I am sure that however much the family and I myself may wish to be passing time in England, yet you all know that too long a residence at Fulham begins at last to look very much like lost time: at least you may say that while absent I am doing something”

(William Burchell, source: Pickering, p. 238)

Speakers

Susan Buchanan holds an honours degree in psychology and a master’s degree in English literature. Her English studies developed her interest in autobiography, 19th century literature, natural history and William Burchell. Susan is the author of Burchell’s Travels: The Life, Art and Journeys of William John Burchell, published by Penguin Random House in 2015.

Paul Mills, owner of Clarke’s Africana & Rare Books and the auction platform www.antiquarianauctions.com has been an active dealer in the international rare book trade for over 35 years and is a member of rare book trade associations such as ABA, ILAB and SABDA and various international rare book organisations and collectors clubs.

Dr. John Rourke is an expert on South African botanical history and was Curator at the Compton Herbarium, National Botanical Institute, Kirstenbosch, Cape Town, South Africa. He has published has published widely including important volumes on historical botany for the Brenthurst Press

Dr. Roger Stewart is a South African expert in maps. His diverse publications on Burchell have popularised the subject and the recently published book by Penguin Random House draws extensively on Stewart’s expertise.

Location & exact time for the talk will be confirmed within the next days.

In cooperation with Penguin Random House and AntiquarianAuctions.com. AntiquarianAuctions.com is an online auction site dedicated to the sale of rare and out of print books, maps & prints, documents, letters, ephemera and vintage photography. Dealers and collectors worldwide have been selling and bidding on the site since 2010. Only established booksellers who are members of major national trade associations such as  ABA, ABAA, PBFA or SABDA or are of good standing in the trade are permitted to sell on the site.  Auctions are held every five weeks and run on the model of a timed auction for one week.  The next rare book auction date is 3-10th March 2016.

JOIN US ...  ORGANIZE IT ... ILAB POP UP BOOK FAIRS ... ACROSS THE WORLD ... ON UNESCO WORLD BOOK & COPYRIGHT DAY ... 23 APRIL 2016!

February 2016 – For immediate release. Pictures: ILAB, UNESCO, the Organizers

5 pm, Cape Town - Last chance to place your bid for literacy!

Charity Auction to Support Literacy in South Sudan – Clarke’s Africana Rare Books & AntiquarianAuctions.com celebrate UNESCO World Book & Copyright Day 2015 by running a charity item in auction #42 ending today!

Paul Mills: “Even though we are an international business, our offices are based in Cape Town, South Africa and we felt that it is particularly important for us to support the campaign. South Africa alone has very high levels of illiteracy with varying statistics. We need to support education and training to fight illiteracy.”

Place your bid on S. Daniell’s: African Scenery and Animals! The money will be donated to UNESCO!

Place a bid on a rare book on South Africa to support literacy in South Sudan! An interview with Paul Mills of AntiquarianAuction.com

When the Mexican wave of ILAB Pop Up Fairs reaches South Africa on 23 April 2015, a very special and generous event dedicated to the ILAB fundraising campaign on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day will come to an exciting end. Cape Town based antiquarian bookseller Paul Mills and AntiquarianAuctions.com are offering a charity item in auction #42 to support the UNESCO literacy projects in South Sudan.

In an interview on South African Fine Music Radio, Paul Mills tells us why it is most fascinating to be an antiquarian bookseller affiliated to ILAB, why the ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs on UNESCO World Book and rare books are really amazing, and why it is so important to support UNESCO's literacy projects in South Sudan!

"The UN Children’s Fund estimates that South Sudan’s literacy rate sits at just 27%, while SA’s is 93.1%, Zimbabwe’s 90.7% and Botswana’s 85.1%." (Business Day Live)

Every dollar, every euro counts!

Charity auction #42 ending on 23 April, is now open!

Click here and place your bid on S. DANIELL’S: AFRICAN SCENERY AND ANIMALS!

Charity Auction to Support Literacy in South Sudan – Celebrate UNESCO World Book & Copyright Day 2015 with AntiquarianAuctions.com

When the Mexican wave of ILAB Pop Up Fairs reaches South Africa on 23 April 2015, a very special and generous event dedicated to the ILAB fundraising campaign on UNESCO World Book and Copyright Day will come to an exciting end. Cape Town based antiquarian bookseller Paul Mills and AntiquarianAuctions.com are offering a charity item in auction #42 to support the UNESCO literacy projects in South Sudan.

The auction, ending on 23 April, is now open!

Click here and place your bid on

S. DANIELL’S: AFRICAN SCENERY AND ANIMALS!

This is a facsimile reprint of the large folio of aquatint plates, first published in 1804-1805 with an introduction and notes by Frank Bradlow and signed by him.

Samuel Daniell arrived at the Cape on 9 December 1799. He was appointed by Lieutenant-General Dundas, who became his patron there, and to whom the first volume (part) is dedicated, to act as secretary to a mission to the 'Booshuanas'. The expedition eventually reached Lataku, at that time the limit of European exploration, and was the source for Daniell of the plates.'

Daniell’s African Scenery and Animals is described as 'the scarcest and most valuable of the large atlas folios of South African illustrations.' (Mendelssohn, South African Bibliography)

Description: 30 colour plates, large folio (610 x 460 mm), half blue leather, marbled boards, a fine copy, Facsimile reprint. One of an edition limited to 550 copies, Cape Town, (1804-1805) 1976.

Estimate: $ 700

The money for this precious book will be donated to UNESCO via the ILAB worldwide fundraising campaign for World Book & Copyright Day on 23 April 2015. It will be used to buy school books for children in South Sudan. $ 700 will provide the schools there with more than 230 books. And the more you bid, the more books can be bought, the more opportunities open up for the children in South Sudan.

Remember: Reading is a fundamental human right!

ILAB: "Book collectors start as book readers! If we are concerned about the future of the book and younger generations of collectors, we must start at the very beginning. That’s why ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs on April 23, will be more than just a fair: they will be a venue for raising money to fight illiteracy! UNESCO is the most powerful worldwide partner we could have, and the UNESCO literacy projects deserve all our support. The money raised on the ILAB Pop Up Book Fairs will be used for a books’ donation in schools and libraries in South Sudan."

Paul Mills: "Even though we are an international business, our offices are based in Cape Town, South Africa and we felt that it is particularly important for us to support the campaign. South Africa alone has very high levels of illiteracy with varying statistics. We need to support education and training to fight illiteracy."

Don't hesitate! Place your bid and help support literacy!