Those in Bondage: An Account of the Life of the Slave at the Cape in the Days of the Dutch East India Company by Victor de Kock is an important early study of slavery at the Cape during the period of Dutch East India Company rule. Published in 1950, this historical work examines the lives, origins and experiences of enslaved people who formed an integral part of early Cape society.
De Kock draws the reader into the social world of the early Cape, discussing the arrival and sale of enslaved people, their places of origin, domestic and agricultural labour, laws and punishments, customs, relationships with slave owners, and the wider structure of slavery under VOC administration. Those in Bondage provides valuable historical context for understanding the development of Cape Town and colonial South African society during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Those in Bondage is illustrated with black-and-white material and includes a particularly interesting map showing places associated with the origins of Cape slaves, stretching from West and East Africa across Madagascar, India, Ceylon and Southeast Asia. The work runs to approximately 240 pages.
This 1950 hardcover edition of Those in Bondage is especially suitable for collectors of Africana, Cape history, VOC history, South African social history and books dealing with slavery and colonial society. Victor de Kock's work occupies an interesting place in the historiography of Cape slavery and remains a useful period source for researchers and collectors of older South African historical publications.
Condition - Good
1950 hardcover without dust jacket. Notable historic insect damage to the front and rear boards extending through to the inner covers, as pictured. There is no evidence of current infestation. Additional general shelf wear and marks to the cloth boards are present. Binding remains secure. Light foxing and age-related discolouration present internally. Please study photographs carefully for the extent of the historic insect damage.
