W.P. Schreiner. A South African

London: Oxford University Press, 1937. First Edition. Hardcover. Very Good. London, Oxford University Press, 1937. Octavo, x, 386 pages plus 6 plates. Cloth slightly marked and bumped; edges lightly marked; contemporary gift inscription and ownership signature; an excellent copy. William Philip Schreiner (1857-1919) 'was [the first South African-born] prime minister of Cape Colony [1898-1900] at the outbreak of the South African War (1899-1902); he was the younger brother of author and political activist Olive Schreiner. A moderate politician, he tried to prevent the war and later was a champion of African civil rights' ('Encyclopaedia Britannica' online). Loosely inserted is a vintage cabinet card photograph (image size 150 × 105 mm, on the printed mount of the photographer James Bruton, Cape Town) of Schreiner and his wife, Frances Hester, née Reitz. The ink inscription on the verso, 'Fan [sic] & Will, Jan 1884', would appear to be in Schreiner's hand. The mount has been unevenly trimmed along the bottom edge (well clear of the image itself), and there is a small tape stain near the top edge of the photograph and at the head of the title leaf, where the cabinet card had originally been attached. The sepia-toned photograph has a few light surface marks visible in a raking light, but overall it is in very good condition.