Cetywayo and His White Neighbours; or, Recent Events in Zululand, Natal, and the Transvaal.

Bookseller Notes

Inscribed by the author to his father on the verso of the flyleaf: 'William M.R. Haggard Esqre, Bradenham Hall, Norfolk, from the author, H. Rider Haggard, Ditchingham House, Norfolk, 7 July 1882'.An important presentation copy of the author's first book, a critique of the colonial situation in South Africa, and here in superb unrestored condition. It was his father who had sent his 'impecunious son' (ODNB) off to the region, where his experiences formed the background of this work, to establish himself rather than pursue the distraction of an impetuous love-interest; though initially successful there, the failure of his romance, confirmed when his love married another, caused him to fall 'into a rash and reckless life, [he] resigned his civil service post, and undertook, with a friend, to raise ostriches' - before returning, in 1879, 'unannounced to his father' (ODNB) at Bradenham Hall, where he had the fortune to encounter a schoolfriend of his sister, with whom he fell in love and to whom he was quickly married. Louisa Margitson was the heir to Ditchingham House, a nearby estate in Norfolk, whither the couple - now with a young son - repaired after the commencement of the Anglo-Transvaal War in 1881, following a further spell of ostrich-farming in South Africa. With new responsibilities, Haggard resolved to read for the bar, and also began his writing career with this work - but it was not an immediate success. Trbner & Co. agreed to publish his manuscript in an edition of 750 copies, in exchange for a cheque of 50 - the expense largely borne by his patient father, to whom he here presents the fruit of his labours.The book was, Haggard later reflected 'at this time a total failure' - almost two years later only 154 copies had sold, a performance that the publisher regarded as 'most unsatisfactory'; it was only after his fiction began to meet an enthusiastic readership, with the success of 'King Solomon's Mines' in 1885, that the edition sold through, and further editions appeared.