The Mines: What they mean to The Farmer (Die Myne: Wat hulle vir Die Boer Beteken): Bound tête-bêche in English and Afrikaans

Johannesburg: Hortors Limited Printers, July, 1923. First edition. Pamphlet. Here we offer a 1923 pamphlet concerning gold mining in South Africa. This pamphlet bound tête-bêche in English and Afrikaans is in good plus condition. The wire stitched, pale pink wraps covers are complete and free of tears and loss, with some light overall soiling and one light crease to the front, lower corner. Both binding staples are intact with no rust. This copy is ex-library with a stamp reading “CALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARY DOCUMENTS DEPT” and a penciled notation “cop. 1” on the front cover. Additionally, the word “mines” on the lower front cover of the English-language side has been underlined in pencil. The contents are bright, clean, and free of toning, spotting, and marking.

This fragile African pamphlet is scarce with only four copies found in WorldCat. The 1886 discovery of gold in South Africa was a turning point for the Transvaal on such a scale that “from 1886 the story of South Africa is the story of gold.” (De Kiewiet, A History of South Africa) This pamphlet, which aims to tell farmers why they should oppose taxation on mines, details the extent to which this was still true in 1923. “There is nothing to take the place of the mines at present or for many years to come. Let the farmer look at the position merely from the point of view of the greatest benefit to South Africa and to himself, and he will realize that in protecting the Mining Industry against the attacks of those who… desire to hamper and cripple it, he is really protecting his own livelihood and securing the promise of his future prosperity.”