Lords of the Last Frontier by Lawrence G. Green (First Edition)

Lords of the Last Frontier: The Story of South West Africa and its People of all Races by Lawrence G. Green is a highly collectable first edition of one of the celebrated South African author’s important works on South West Africa, present-day Namibia. Published in Cape Town by Howard B. Timmins in 1952, this copy is explicitly identified on the copyright page as the First edition – 1952.

Green spent decades travelling through southern Africa and gathering the stories, personalities, history, folklore and observations that made his books so distinctive. In Lords of the Last Frontier, he turns his attention to the vast and sparsely populated territory of South West Africa, ranging from the remote Kaokoveld and desert regions to settlements, farms and the Atlantic coastline.

Lords of the Last Frontier combines history and travel writing with Green’s characteristic interest in unusual people, isolated communities and little-known episodes from the region’s past. Subjects include the Kaokoveld, Ovambo, Herero and other communities, remote settlements, the German colonial period, desert landscapes, shipwrecks and life along the inhospitable coast. Lords of the Last Frontier is illustrated with photographs and includes attractive maps of South West Africa on the endpapers.

This is the 369-page 1952 first edition, published by Howard B. Timmins, Cape Town, and importantly retains its original illustrated dust jacket, featuring the distinctive camel-rider artwork signed Dorelle. An appealing piece of mid-20th-century Africana and particularly relevant to collectors of Lawrence G. Green, Namibia/South West Africa and southern African travel literature.

Condition – Good

The blue cloth hardcover itself remains in good to very good overall condition, with light age and handling wear. The original dust jacket is present but is well worn, with considerable edge wear, tears, creasing and areas of loss/chipping, particularly around the upper edge, corners and spine extremities. There is an early dated ownership inscription in ink on the map endpaper. General age-related toning and minor marks are present. Please refer to the photographs for the extent of the dust-jacket wear.