With the Flag to Pretoria: A History of the Boer War of 1899-1900, Volumes I and II; After Pretoria: The Guerilla War, Volumes I and II (Four volumes)

First thus. 1900-1902. Complete in four volumes, profusely illustrated in black and white, containing all the original parts and the additional title pages, contents pages and coloured folding maps.  All four volumes uniformly bound in red cloth-covered boards with gilt and black decorations and lettering.  Bevelled edges.  The two volumes of ‘With the Flag’ have patterned endpapers, while the other two volumes have plain yellow endpapers.  Large and heavy folios.  Cloth covers are worn and tired, rubbed almost entirely round edges, frayed and cracked at spine ends, lightly soiled in margins, with some spot marks and mild scratches.  Spines sunned else boards unevenly faded.  Text block edges dark and spotted.  Endpapers have creasing and the plain ones a little tanned, and there are minor signs of handling throughout.  Binding is a little wobbly but firmly holding.  Fair to good condition.

“With the Flag to Pretoria was first published in weekly parts starting in 1900, allowing the British public to read the latest updates on the then ongoing conflict in South Africa (the Second Boer War). The subsequent series, also issued in weekly part through to 1902.  The publisher’s Harmsworth Brothers also sold official decorative cloth bindings, title and contents pages and maps, to be bound with the weekly parts (sans magazine covers).  Unashamedly pro-British and patriotic, the contemporary coverage of the Second Boer War reflects contemporary style and views at the height of the action.  Volumes cover the Boer Offensive, when Boer forces invaded British-held territory, with the famous sieges of Ladysmith, Mafeking and Kimberley, the British Counter-offensive in which the British captured the Boer capital cities of Pretoria and Bloemfontein, and the guerrilla warfare which led the British to respond with a scorched-earth policy and concentration camps.

A very large and heavy set with a packed weight approaching 15kg. Overseas delivery will attract an additional charge for overseas delivery – please inquiry, stating your preferred country of delivery, for an accurate quote.