Boer War Episodes by Herbert Melville Guest - first edition
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A very interesting volume consisting of three different original editions which were published in 1901 & 1902, and then bound into one volume in 1939.
The compiler, Herman Guest, who was also the son of the author and publisher of these three books, gives some background information in the foreword:
"The following pages comprise three small volumes which were written and published by my late father, Mr. Herbert Melville Guest, during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 - 1902:
"Vicissitudes of a Transvaal Dorp."
"With Lord Methuen and the First Division."
"Incidents in the Western Transvaal."
There are only a few copies now available, and these I have had bound together, forming a complete collection of his records of the campaign in the Western Transvaal and elsewhere. It will be realized that the accounts were written during times of stress, and consequently some of the statements have an "ex parte" complexion. The value of the volume lies in the fact that it was written and produced when Klerksdorp was practically in a state of siege. The inhabitants were unable to proceed a mile in any direction from the market square, and the one railway line, although closely guarded, was frequently disturbed by Boers". - Herman Guest. Klerksdorp, March, 1939.
It is interesting to note that a few years after the war the author became Mayor of Klerksdorp, and a few years after him his son also became mayor.
The original covers of the three books were removed and they were bound into one volume. Where the one book ends and the other one starts you can still see some remnants of the original covers.
Herbert Guest wrote and published his books a mile from the battlefield while the battle was raging, which makes his books unique as most Boer War books were only written after the battles and published in another country.
