The Cape Journals of Archdeacon N. J. Merriman 1848-1855 Varley, D. H., and H. M. Matthew (editors

 About this Item: (Cape Town, The Van Riebeeck Society, 1957), 1957. Van Riebeeck Society 1st series, volume 37. 8vo; original cloth; pp. xvi + 243 + (vii); monochrome plates; folding map. Spine a little mottled; moderate foxing. Good condition. "Merriman was already a man of considerable experience in 1848 when he was invited by his friend, Bishop Robert Gray, to become the first archdeacon of Grahamstown, in charge of all Anglican church work in the eastern districts of the colony. . . . Merriman kept a private journal for the years 1848 to 1855. It was never meant for publication, but Bishop Gray persuaded Merriman to allow him to publish part of it, for the years 1850-52, under the title, The Kafir, the Hottentot and the Frontier Farmer (London, 1853). The entire journal was published in 1957 in a version closer to the original, and, as source material for the period, is very important. From this journal Merriman emerges as an astringent and original personality, humorous, critical and sometimes caustic."