The Little Karoo by Pauline Smith

The Little Karoo by Pauline Smith is an important early work of South African literature and a highly collectable piece of twentieth-century Africana. This copy is the Second Impression, published in March 1925, only one month after the book was first published in February 1925, making it a particularly early example of Smith’s best-known work.

With an introduction by celebrated English novelist Arnold Bennett, The Little Karoo established Pauline Smith’s literary reputation through a collection of evocative stories inspired by the landscape, people and social world of the Little Karoo. Drawing heavily upon Smith’s childhood experiences in South Africa, the stories portray isolated farming communities, family relationships, religious conviction, hardship and the often unforgiving environment of the Karoo.

Smith’s restrained and atmospheric prose has made the collection an enduring work in the South African literary canon. The Little Karoo is particularly associated with the Oudtshoorn district and offers a fascinating literary interpretation of rural Cape life during an earlier period of South African history.

This early Jonathan Cape edition is bound in its original olive-green cloth with gilt lettering to the spine. The March 1925 Second Impression remains desirable to collectors of Pauline Smith, early South African literature and Africana.

Condition – Fair 

Original olive-green cloth boards show general age-related rubbing, handling marks, small stains and wear, particularly around the edges and spine extremities. Gilt spine lettering remains reasonably clear. Page edges are noticeably browned and uneven with age, with some spotting/foxing visible. A gathering of pages has become detached/loose. Interior pages otherwise show expected age toning and occasional spotting.