Thomas François Burgers – A Biography by Dr S. P. Engelbrecht

Thomas François Burgers: A Biography by Dr S. P. Engelbrecht is an important biographical study of Thomas François Burgers, the controversial and influential nineteenth-century statesman who served as President of the South African Republic from 1872 until the British annexation of the Transvaal in 1877. This English-language edition was published in 1946 by J. H. de Bussy of Pretoria in association with H.A.U.M. / J. Dusseau & Co. of Cape Town, and includes a preface by Field-Marshal Jan Christiaan Smuts.

Engelbrecht’s biography was based substantially upon Burgers’ private papers and correspondence, together with other historical sources, giving the work particular importance within early scholarship concerning the South African Republic and its political development. Burgers remains one of the more fascinating personalities of nineteenth-century South African history: a clergyman, intellectual, reformer and politician whose ambitious presidency coincided with an increasingly difficult period in the history of the Transvaal.

Thomas François Burgers explores Burgers’ life and career against the wider background of the South African Republic, relations with Britain, internal political divisions and the circumstances preceding the annexation of the Transvaal. The contemporary assessment reproduced with the book describes Engelbrecht’s work as a valuable contribution to South African literature and history.

This 1946 English edition is particularly desirable in its surviving illustrated dust jacket. The handsome original blue cloth binding features a blind-stamped border with gilt lettering to the front board and spine, giving Thomas François Burgers considerable shelf appeal.

Condition – Near Fine

Near Fine 1946 hardcover in a Near Fine, slightly worn original dust jacket. The blue cloth boards are exceptionally well preserved, featuring a blind-stamped border and bright gilt lettering to the front board and spine. The book itself shows no significant external defects.

Internally clean and well preserved. There are old tape marks to the endpapers from a previous protective plastic covering, which constitute the principal defect. The original illustrated dust jacket remains remarkably attractive for its age, showing only light general wear and minor age-related marks. Overall, an unusually well-preserved example of this 1946 Africana title, particularly desirable with the original jacket present.