Die Donker Huis. c.1931. First Edition. (Inscribed by Louis Leipoldt to famous Afrikaans linguist)

00316.  Die Donker Huis. c.1931. First Edition. Inscribed by author to famous Afrikaans linguist Prof. Johannes Jocobus Smith (founder of Huisgenoot. ABR. H. Jonker. Hardback. Brown cloth cover with title in green. Title and author details on the spine. Dustjacket is worn and torn. Offsetting. Afrikaans text. 307pp. 142 x 188mm.

Professor Johannes Jacobus "Jan" Smith (5 October 1883 18 June 1949) was a leading figure in the Afrikaans language movement and the compiler of the first standard Afrikaans dictionary. He was an important member of the committee which first attempted to standardize Afrikaans spelling, and was made the founding editor of Die Huisgenoot, the family magazine of the Nationale Pers, in which early Afrikaans literature was discussed. He was a professor of languages at Stellenbosch University from 1919 until his retirement in 1945. His nephew was the politician, judge and Afrikaans writer Henry Allan Fagan.