B 0 E KB ESPRE KIN GS/
BOOK REVIEWS
and vegetables, to the .increased absence of housewives
from home, and to the intense competition from private
hawkers whose advantages included door-to-door delivery
and trade on credit.63 Not all were content to let explana-tions rest there, and the Rand Daily Mail, which had
con-sistently championed mobile marketing, submitted that
poor patronage was partly the fault of the Council itself: "... The Council conducted the mobile markets in a
half-hearted manner, without foresight or business acumen
the Council is to blame for not 'selling' the mobile
mar-kets to the public".64 The case for terminating mobile
marketing was the clearer in view of the pattern of
patronage. Fewer than five percent of the White
popula-tion of Johannesburg were using the service, and of that
number eighty percent were from the higher income
sub-urbs in northern and eastern Johannesburg. Outside of
these areas, in suburbs which the mobile markets had
originally been intended to serve, patronage was highest
in Kensington.6S In a curious turn about, the razson d'etre
of municipal hawking had been negated. Nothing had
ever come of the proposal that the very poorest people in
Johannesburg, the Black township residents, should be
served by the municipal mobile markets. Indeed, the
townships failed to benefit even from the half-hearted
proposal to funnel into these areas surplus produce from
the mobile markets. Rather, the Johannesburg City
Council chose to sell such surplus to farmers for pig
feed.66
H. FRANSEN and MARY A. COOK The old buildings of the Cape. A.A. Balkema: Cape Town. 1980. 456 pp. R40,OO (exclusive).
ISBN 0869611232.
CONCLUSION
The bold ,experiment of municipal mobile marketing in
Johannesburg was unique in South Africa when it began
in 1944. Municipal hawking as practised in Johannesburg
had few, if any, parallels elsewhere. In the course of eight
years of operations, the mobile IIiarkets served upwards of
1 740 000 customers and turned
over more
than
£469 000 of produce. Introduced so as to make scarce
fruit and vegetable supplies more available and accessible
to the city's poor Whites, the mobile markets had a
chequered history. Patronage rose steadily for five years,
then declined sharply. Financial performance oscillated,
being best when produce (especially potatoes) was
parti-cularly scarce. Opinions on the desirability of municipal
hawking were sharply divided: users and officials were
ranged against shopkeepers and private hawkers and
their representative organisations. It was ultimately the
City Council's insistence that mobile marketing be
finan-cially self-supporting and not a social-benefit programme
that put an end to the project. As one of the several
at-tempts to counter the high prices of food, the mobile
markets were survived by the state-subsidised food
distri-bution
scheme managed by Johannesburg's
Social
Welfare Department. The six mobile markets in
Johan-nesburg made their last ttips on April 30, 1952.67 U
In 1965 Hans Fransen and Mary Alexander Cook's pioneering attempt to compile a full survey of early Cape architecture was published as The old houses of the Cape. This book went out of print many years ago, but it was systematically revised and augmented by the original authors and a new edition, now entitled The old buildings of the Cape, was publish-ed in 1980.
As the subtitles suggest. the latest edition has a much wider scope than the first, being a survey ami description of old bu\Jdings in the Western Province over an area of about 230 000 square kilometres; this extends from Cape Town to Calvinia in the north and to Graaff-Reinet, Colesberg. and Uitenhage in the east. The 18th and 19th century
buildings dealt with in this publication are mostly in the Cape Dutch, Cape Regency. Georgian, and Victorian Styles.
The introductory chapter deals with general subjects, such as the Cape Dutch ground-plan and the origin and development of the Cap.. gable; there is a most informative Glossary of eleven pages; and 32 chapters are devoted to an inventory of monuments, each chapter deal-ing with a specific area, e.g. Cape Town City, Paarl, Paarl District, Oudtshoorn. and Graaff-Reinet.
The monuments are divided into three categories, indicated as such in the text: major monuments, of which there are some 200, monuments (I 000). and minor monuments (2000). Not all the build-ings in the inventory still exist, but have been included to prevent often interl:sting information from falling into oblivion and to indicate the rate of destruction of old buildings.
The authors set themselves the goal of giving an architectural description of each building: its type, style, kind of'ground.plan. out-standing architectural features, etc. These descriptions are augmented with at least 80 photographs. Major monuments such as Government House (Tuynhuis), have understandably been described in more detail than minor monuments such as 186 Buitekant Street.
Regional maps and town plans add to the usefulness of the pu-blication to those who want to use it as a guide-book on a hunt for mo-numents.
The buildings are not listed in alphabetical order: in each chap-ter and sub-section public buildings are dealt with first; these are fol-lowed by private buildings arranged street-wise and according to street numbers. The somewhat exhaustive Index on architectural objects. streets, squares, towns, etc. is a valuable aid to those looking for something specific. The Bibliography, however, does not reflect all the sources consulted by the authors, as no unpublished records are listed.
Everybody interested in our South African heritage will derive as much pleasure from this beautiful publication as the serious researcher will gain information.
A.G. OBERHOLSTER
Human Sciences
Research Council
P.]. NJI-:NABtR en C.].P. 1.1-: ROlIX. VrystaatJokus. (Met foto's deur Etienne Botha). Cum-Boeke: Roodepoort. 1982.97 pp. R17.95 (eksklusief). ISBN 086984216 I.
In vergelyking met die meeste ander Jande het Suid-Afrika 'n betreklike jong geskiedenis, Tog is dit 'n verlede ryk aan gebeurtenisse en helde-clade -drie eeue waarin manne en vroue deur volharding en moed vir hulle 'n bestaan aan hierdie SuiderJand ontworstel en die gebied oop-gestel het. Die materiele nalatenskap van die pioniers is uiteraard be-perk en yJ.verspreid, terwyl dit wat behoue gebly het, meestal besig is om te verword of te verweer en in die vergetelheid te verdwyn, Op die nageslag van hierdie baanbrekers rus derhalwe 'n dure plig om hul erfenis te bewaar en in gedagtenis te hou.
65.
66.
67.
Ibid.
Rand Daily Mail. 22.4.1952.
j.C.C., Mayor's minute, 1952/53, p.177.
The StaT, 8.1.1948.
Rand Daily Mail. 29.4.1952.
G,A, CARTFR, J,L, Hobbj'j local history and the u'bmry, Andre Deutsch: L~ndon,1973, 344 pp, (No price available)
ISBN 0233956158,
F9r many years the study of local history has been the province of ama- . teurs. Traditionally professional historians indulged in the study of na-tional history. showing but scant regard for this cinderella of the dis-cipline which is often erroneously classified as an antiquarian pasti~t;. To a certain extent this attitudecis still prevalent among rrianyhistorical groups. But local history as a fully-fledged branch of learning is rapidly gaining a respectable status as more research results become availabie. For this reason it is gratifying to note that modern information scientists have sho\'fn a willingness-.toregard local history as an independent dis-cipline, and have formulated comprehensive systems for developing libraries which suit the requirements of this specialised field of local
historical research. '~
Two pioneers in local historical librarianship are G.A. CarteJ and the late J. L. Hobbs who have also incidentally made thei, mark a~ practisi~g-'historians. Locaf history and the li.brary, by H~bbs,. first ap
\
' peared In 1962 and has subsequent\y been revIsed by Carter owing to re-cent developments in the field. The authors conre-centrate extensively on three. aspects in this comprehensive work: the philosophy and logic of local history and librar~ science; the basic guidelines for planning and developing the local history library; and lastly ~ faithful to their breed -a history of this type of library in Britain. .As regards the first aspect, the work contains much information on the practice of local history, enabling the librarian to understand some of the unique problems that the m9dern researcher has \0 contend with. These are many, as the authors point out, because local history as a discipline is no longer practised in isolation from na~i9nal history. Ow-ing to the thorough study of local detail, certain myths and misinter-pretations of the past are in the process of being debunked. The na-tional historian can no longer make generalised statements without tak-ing note of certain historical facts of a local nature which are at variance with dated concepts of past reality.
The planning and development of the10callibrary is remarkably specialised. In cOntrast with a former generation the modern local his-tory \i\Jrarian needs to be a specialist in various aspects of hishis-tory. Also from an occupational point of view the librarian must be capable of ap-plying the basic principles of archival practice in storing documenta-tion. Today the a~\'\tivist is a specialist who has completed a graduate or diploma_cours~ in -an extremely sophisticated field. Few courses in libra-rianship"give sufficient attention to this department of information science. The authors, bearing this in mind, devote two chapters (four and. six) to manuscript records and the c~re and ~reat~;I) n o~ archives.
Owing to the complex nature of cataloguing and Indexl nmary and
secondary material, several practical examples are cons ~red and sug-gestions are made which could be of cardinal importance in the sensible planning of a functional local history library.
The history of the fully-fledged local collection in Britain goes back to 1824 when a start was made at the Guildhall library in London to preserve documents of local interest. Legislative measures were in-troduced in 1850 by the Public Libraries Bill to create the necessary facilities for information storage. The authors point out that for some 75 years it was the public library, and ironically enough not the histo-rical fraternity.. that "laboured almOst alone in trying to bring together materials for the study of local history". (p.42) During the 1960's the de-velopment of local history collections at public libraries made great pro-gress. In the space of one decade these libraries increased by 64 per cellt in Britain. The South African historian can but stand in astonishment and take note of what has been accomplished so well in so short a time. It fills one with respect and at the same time envy, realising what can be
accomplished in local history if only the necessary facilities are avail-able. The inimmitable Samuel Johnson once remarked" A man will turn over half a library to make one book". And after considering the importance of a good local history library one may add to that: had it not been for the librarian, far more than half a library would have had to be turned over.
Local history and the u.brary is without doubt a work that can be of great value to the South African information scientist who wishes to take part in a noble and pioneering study which has made good progress in recent years. The book however has one shortcoming: the authors have not taken the facilities offered by computer technology into con-sideration. Modern information science becomes increasingly concern-ed with time'saving and efficient electronic data systems. It is to be hoped that should a new edition of the work appear in the near future Mr. Carter will take this matter up as well.
Met VrystaatJokus het prof. Nienaber en dr. LeRoux van die Nasionale Afrikaanse Letterkundige Museum en Navorsingsentrum in Bloemfontein juis hieraan uitvoering probeer gee. Hierdie werk .rig as't ware 'n uitnodiging tot die leser en elke belangstellende om op reis deui die Vrystaat van vandag te gaan en gebeure van weleer te herleef. 'Dit word 'n "ontdekkingstog" wat die roemryke clade en groat momente, maar oak die danker dae uit ons volksverlede, voordiegeestesoog roep. Vir die doeleindes van die publikasie word die provinsie in drie hoofstreke verdeel, naarnlik Suid-, Oos-, Noord- en Wes-Vrystaat (laasgenoemde twee word gesamentlik behandel). Benewens 'n kart ge-skiedenis van diestigting van en naamgewing aa~ dorpe, word plekke en geboue van kultuurhistoriese betekenis beskryf en met rota's -Waar-van sommige in kleur -toegelig. Die fokus is egter hoofsaaklik op monumente ter ere van volksleiers en -helde of ter herdenking van ge-beure 5005 die Groot Trek, die Basoeto-oorloe (1858-1867), die Twee-de Vryheidsoorlog (1899-1902), die simboliese Ossewatrek (J.938) en die twee wereldoorloe. Enkele opstalle (dikwels nag net die murasies of fondamente daarvan), plase, grafte van belangrike pioniers ennatuur-verskynsels van geskiedkundige belang word oak besoek en die agter-grand van elkeen kortliks geskets.
Die noodsaaklikheid om hierdie kultuurerfgoed te bewaar en die nagedagtenis van hulle war aan die Vrystaat (en die Republiek van Suid-Afrika) help bOll het, in ere te hall, word deurentyd beklemtoon. Hierdie erns word nietemin afgewissel met luimige vertellings 5005 die oar die legendariese Renier de Winnaar se wedervaringe met die duiwel of kommandant Paul Kruger (die latere president) se Hollandse sekre-tariswat op 'n keer sodiep in die bot tel gekyk het dat hy te midde van 'n hewige geveg teen Basoeto's sy roes ongesteurd Ie en uitslaap hell
Sander om enigsins aan die verdienstelikheid,van die publikasie afbreuk te probeer doell, moet tog op enkele van die opvallendste leem-tes en hinderlikste route daarin gewys word. Daar word met die vol-gende tendense en voorbeelde volstaan:
Die gebruik van 'n "praatstyl" (populere omgangstaal) is som~ ir riterend en sleek skerp af by die meer wetenskaplike, sobere skryfstyl wat oar die algemeen gebruik word. Oak die sinsbou (woordorde) is nie altyd bevorderlik vir 'n vloeiende styl en leesgenot nie. Taal-, skryf- en spelfoute kom redelik algemeen voor, byvoorbeeld: randjiei.p.v. rantjie (p.8); 1662 i.p.v. 1862 (p.II); klerkh"ke i.p.v. kerklike (p.14); verenig i.p.v- verewig (p.29); Van Rijn i.p.v. Van Rhijn (p.42, voetnoot 21); Driemanskap "." waaromheen i.p.v. ...omwie (p.47); die TheemsriVl"er i.p.v. die Teems (p.68); voor die Stadsraad i.p.v. ..stadsaal (p.69); simkboliseer i.p.v. simbohseer (p.80). Ten opsigte van spelling en woordkeuse duik allerlei inkonsekwensies or, byvoorbeeld: Raad Vlr.../Raad van (Nasionale Gedenkwaardighede); die dlstrik van/die alstrik; KhPPlaatsdrif/KhPPlaatsdrift; Silkaats/Mzuikazi; Leghoya/ Leghoja; voet, tree en myl/metrieke mate en afstande; ki"lometer/kilo-meters., Sekere sinne is vaagen dubbelsinl:lig geformuleer en kan totver-warring lei, byvoorbeeld:"die dorp (is) tot distrik verklaar" (pp.13 en 41); "waar Bethulie tansstaan" (p.17); "die eerste gemeente ...was die Baptistekerk" (p.53); "die hoeksteen is ...gele en deur ds. Van der Lingen ingewy" (p.77); "die plaat ...lees" (p.89).
Wat die voetnoottegniek belfer, is die volgendesteurend: verwy-sings na geraadpleegde bronne vind soms in die leks en clan weer in voetnote plaas; die titels van publikasies stem ~ie altyd ooreen met die wat in die bronnelys opgeneem is nie en word oak nie konsekwent gekur-siveer nie; voorletters van auteurs word dikwels weggelaat; die gebruik van ibid. is nie deurgaans korrek nie;punktuasie en datumaanduidings (by koerante) in die voetnote is nie eenvormig nie. .
In die bronnelys ontbreek verskeie belangrike publikasies wat klaarblyklik nie geraadpleeg is nie; sommige publikasies war wel in die voetnote vermeld word, is trouens nie opgeneem nie; die voorletters van auteurs asook die plek en datum van uitgawe word nie oral verstrek nie; die titels van enkele bronne is foutief; in die inhoudsopgawe is geen ver-wysing na die bibliografie opbladsye 91- 93 nie. Aangesien inskrywings in die register nie volledig is of altyd sinvol en logies gegroepeer word nie, word die opspoor van spesifieke gegewens bemoeilik.
Met die oog op die moontlike herdruk van die hoek, kan die volgende oorweeg word: 'n kaart waarop die onderskeie roetes aangedui word, asook 'n straatplan van Bloemfontein war dit vir die leser en toeris makliker sal maak om die besienswaardighede op te spoor; iota's van een of meeT van die sewe geboue of plekke in die hoofstad wat die be: skrywing daarvan kan ophelder; 'n fotoregister war nuttig sou wees om bepaalde rota's geredelik te vind.
Ten slotte: in sy geheel beskou, kan hierdie publikasie as 'n aan-wins vir die boekrak bestempel word. Die voorafgaande opmerkings is dus daarop bereken om 'n andersins puik eersteling van hierdie aard sy regmatige~!ek onder ons Africana te laat inneem.
C. C. ELOFF
