The Special Collections Book of the Week this week is:

The Land of Gold, Diamonds and Ivory: being a comprehensive handbook and guide to the colonies, states and republics of South and East Africa by Joseph Forsyth Ingram.

Joseph Forsyth Ingram (1858-1923) was a civil servant, explorer, writer and artist. Born in Ireland, he came to Natal in 1867 with his family and they settled on a farm near the Umhlanga River. Ingram explored and travelled extensively in South and East Africa as a trader and newspaper correspondent and wrote several books and numerous articles about the region. As Ingram wrote in the Preface to the first edition of this book, “The purpose of this volume is to present, at one view, a clear, concise and reliable record of the past history and present condition of South and South East Africa.”

UPSpace Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2263/12650

This book is available at Special Collections, housed on level 5 of the Merensky 2 Library, and is part of our Africana (ZA) 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.