The Special Collections Book of the Week this week is:

Portraits of the game and wild animals of southern Africa… by Sir William Cornwallis Harris.

This week our Book of the Week is from our Du Plessis Collection, and has been digitised and made available on UPSpace. So even while the Library is closed, you can still enjoy it!

“One of the rarest of all books dealing with African big game and sport, this monumental presentation depicts wild game of southern Africa as encountered and studied by Harris. The tinted lithographs highlighted in colour by hand are especially lovely and make this volume exceptionally desirable. Included among the portraits are elephant, buffalo, rhinoceros, lion, leopard, kudu, roan, eland, and quagga, among others. Each of the illustrations is also enlivened by scenic backgrounds of the habitat. The portraits are highlighted with Harris' detailed descriptions of the game, habitat, and with occasional mention of his hunting adventures.” ~ Kenneth Czech, ‘Bibliography of African Big Game Hunting Books 1785 -1999.’

UPSpace Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/21970

This book is available on our UPSPace page or at Special Collections, housed on level 5 of the Merensky 2 Library, and is part of our ZPA (Du Plessis) Collection.

The Special Collections unit of the Department of Library Services plays a stewardship role in the acquisition and preservation of the Library's rare and valuable information resources, making them accessible to students, staff and researchers, as well as safeguarding them for future generations.