Life at the Cape Over a Hundred Years Ago By a Lady
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In August, 1861, a Lady arrived in Cape Town from England. She possessed, apart from a husband and some children, a remarkable talent for observation and a great gift for writing down all she saw and observed In a controlled style she describes the people she meets and gives her impressions of the country. She was not much of a stay-at-home; she seems to have been more in the saddle than in a chair, and can therefore say a great deal about the surroundings of the Cape, and her rides to Camps Bay, Kalk Bay, Constantia, Wynberg and Newlands; also about her more ambitious travels to Stellenbosch, Welling- ton, the Paarl and Worcester. What she tells is very interesting, especially about social customs. She writes about the upper-ten', the old Dutch and the English families, their elegant houses, what they did and did not do, what they ate and drank, their picnic parties and their dance evenings; she also tells about the fishermen, the Malay tailors, and the whole somewhat untidy but colourful scenes of the 'men in the street'.
This fascinating book gives a day-to-day picture of life in Cape Town and its neighbouring suburbs a century ago. The accomplished and observant Lady has her own unique style for describing 'Fun and excitement at an auction sale' and 'a grand excursion up Table Mountain'. The 16 lithographs chosen from the work of Thomas Bowler (who was the Lady's contemporary at the Cape) make their own contribution to the atmosphere and social background of the scene.
| Author | A Lady |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Struik |
| Place | Cape Town |
| Year | 1998 |
| ISBN | 9781868721481 |
| Binding | Paperback |
| Condition | Very Good |
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New: Exactly as it says.
As New: Pretty much new but shows small signs of having been read; inside it will be clean without any inscriptions or stamps; might contain a remainder mark.
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Good: A few creases on the spine, perhaps a forward lean, bumping on corners or shelfwear; maybe an inscription inside or some shelfwear or a small tear or two on the dustjacket; inside clean but page edges might be somewhat yellowed.
Fair: In overall good condition, might have a severe forward lean to the spine, an inscription, bumping to corners; one or two folds on the covers and yellowed pages; in exceptional cases these books might contain some library stamps and stickers or have neat sticky tape which was used to fix a short, closed tear.
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