Founded in 1990, family-owned Quagga Books has built a distinctive footprint in the antiquarian book trade with our eye for the unusual.
For an authentic experience, visit our Kalk Bay shop or browse through our interesting mix of books, maps and ephemera on our website.
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The Mammals of South Africa – Austin Roberts. Smit
Foreword by Lt.-Col. J Stevenson-Hamilton. A comprehensive book on the mammals of South Africa. Supplemented with beautiful colour plates illustrating well over 200 different kinds of mammals. First Edition. Condition: very good – illustrated zebra to front board, minor edge wear, paste down endpaper worn with patches, slight lean to spine. Hardcover binding. Publisher: Trustess…
From Man to Man – Schreiner, Olive
From Man to Man or Perhaps Only… An exploration of gender dynamics, societal norms, and the quest for individual identity, set against the backdrop of 19th century South Africa. Unfinished novel. First Edition. Condition: very good – slight curve to the boards, foxing throughout, edge wear. Hardcover binding. Publisher: T. Fisher Unwin LTD Date Published:…
Undine – Schreiner, Olive
The first completed novel by South African author Olive Schreiner, written primarily in her youth while working as a governess. Though written before The Story of an African Farm, it was published posthumously in 1929. First Edition. Condition: very good – foxing and sunning to spine, lean to spine, inscription from prior owner in ink…
Geologie de la Republique Sud-Africaine du Transvaal – Molengraaff, D G A F
French text. with 19 figures in the text, a plate of cross-sections, and a colored topographical and geological fold out map of the Transvaal. First Edition. Condition: good – spine loosening, edge wear, age toning to front and rear board, unopened edges. Softcover binding. Publisher: Au Siege de la Societe Geologique de France Date Published:…
Botanical Exploration of Southern Africa. – Gunn, Mary and Codd, L E
Introductory volume to the Flora of Southern Africa An illustrated history of early botanical literature on the Cape flora. Biographical accounts of the leading plant collectors (some with b&w photographs) and their activities in southern Africa from the days of the East India Company until the modern times. First Edition. Condition: very good – bound…
Rook en Oker – Jonker, Ingrid
Includes “Die kind wat doodgeskiet is deur soldate by Nyanga” (“The child who was shot dead by soldiers at Nyanga”), which Nelson Mandela famously recited at the opening of the first democratic Parliament in 1994. Includes pamphlet for Ingrid Jonker the Center. Second Edition. Condition: good – wear to spine, edge wear, foxing to back…
Commando. A Boer Journal of the Boer War. – Deneys Reitz
The author entered the war at the age of 17 years and fought it through to the end. A story of courage, endurance and the triumph of human spirit over adversity. Illustrated with numerous photographs and sketches. First Edition, Fourth Impression. Condition: very good – bound in red cloth, light edge wear at the spine,…
Maps of Africa – Norwich, Oscar I.
An Illustrated and Annotated Carto-bibliography A standard reference work on maps of the African continent. From 1486 to 1886. Bibliographical description by Klobe, Pam. First Edition. Condition: very good – minor lean to spine, light edge wear. Bound in blue cloth. Jacket condition: very good – light edge wear, 1 cm close tear to front…
Travels in the Interior of Southern Africa. 2 Volumes – Burchell, William J
No. 927 of a limited edition of facsimile reprint of 1000 numbered copies. 2 volumes with folding map. With a new introduction by A Gordon-Brown. Includes 10 plates and 50 Vignettes. Heavy item that will incur additional shipping charges. Tipped in maps of Burchell’s route to replace standard fold out map. Facsimile Reprint. Condition: very…
Pelargoniums of Southern Africa. 3 Volumes. – Van der Walt, J J A & Vorster, P J
Complete 3 volume set. Each volume contains 50 natural species of Pelargonium. Bound in grey cloth with white text to spine. Volume 1. missing Jacket. First Edition. Condition: very good – volume 1: light edge wear, bumping to corners; volume 2: age toning to paste-down and free endpapers, bumping to front bottom right corner, light…
Drama at Ponta Degada – Storrar, Patricia
The dramatic story of the great Portuguese merchant ship, the São Conçalo which went aground in Plettenberg Bay in 1630. Colour and b&w photographs. First Edition. Condition: very good – bumping to spine corners, light lean to spine, minor edge wear. Bound in brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine. Jacket condition: very good –…
Lithops. – Nel, G C
Lithops: Plantae succulentae, rarissimae, in terra obscuratae, e familia Aizoaceae, ex Africa australi 123 Figures and 43 colour plates. Landmark 1946 botanical monograph by G.C. Nel (Professor of Botany at the University of Stellenbosch). First Edition. Condition: very good – light lean to spine, edge wear, bumping to corners, age toning to free endpapers in…
A Vista and a Vision. The Story of Belvidere, Knysna – Storrar, Patricia
Numerous b&w and colour plates. The stories of life in Belvidere village Knysna. Second Edition. Condition: very good – light edge wear, minor lean to spine, slight bumping to corners. Jacket condition: very good – minor age toning to front and rear panel, minor edge wear to spine. Hardcover binding. Publisher: Rutherford Publications Date Published:…
Trees of the Kruger National Park. Vols 1 and 2. – Van Wyk, P (Chief Research Officer of the Kruger National Park)
Numerous colour plates and b&w illustrations. Subscriber special deluxe edition. Deluxe edition. Condition: very good – wear to volume 1 and 2’s spine, bumped corners, and slight edge wear. Hardcover binding. Publisher: Purnell & Sons (Pty) Ltd Date Published: 197 Publication Place: Cape Town Condition: very good – wear to volume 1 and 2’s spine,…
How I Found Livingstone: Travels, Adventures and Discoveries in Central Africa – Stanley, H.M.
Including Four Months’ Residence with Dr Livingstone 19th-century travelogue by journalist Henry Morton Stanley. Commissioned by the New York Herald in 1869 to locate the missing Scottish missionary David Livingstone, Stanley chronicles his perilous 700-mile expedition from Zanzibar to Ujiji. Includes large fold out map. Condition: very good – gilt page edges, gilt lettering and…
Remembrance of Things Past (Vol. I, II, III) – Proust, Marcel
In Search of Lost Time, first translated into English as Remembrance of Things Past, and sometimes referred to in French as La Recherche, is a novel in seven volumes by French author Marcel Proust. This early twentieth-century work is his most prominent, known for both its length and its theme of involuntary memory. Revised Edition….
The Diary of Henry Francis Fynn – Stuart, James (Ed) & Malcolm, D McK.
This edition is limited to 1700 copies of which this is no. 551. Compiled from original sources and edited by James Stuart and D McK. Malcolm. Covering the period 1824 – 1836. The story of the first white settler in Natal. 2 Fold out maps at the rear. Green tint to top edges. First Edition….
Lake Ngami or Explorations and Discovery during Four Years of Wanderings in Wild of South-Western Africa – Andersson, Charles John
Africana Collectanea Volume XXIV Descriptive accounts of the flora and fauna, exciting adventures, meeting with native races as well as the endurance of the explorers. Fold out map at the rear. Facsimile edition. Condition: very good – bound in brown cloth with gilt lettering to spine, age toning to both free endpaper, small 1 cm…
Travels in the Interior of South Africa. 1849 – 1863 (2 volumes) – Chapman, James
Hunting and Trading Journeys from Natal to Walvis Bay and Visits to Lake Ngami & Victoria Falls. Edited from the original manuscripts by Edward C. Tabler. Includes a map, a selection of Chapman’s photographs between pages 10 and 11 in Vol. 2. Illustrated by line engravings reproduced from the original editions of the books by…
Restios of the Fynbos – Haaksma, Els Dorrat & Linder, H Peter
A field guide for the Restionaceae or Cape reeds which is a unique family of fynbos plants found in the southern tip of South Africa. Beautifully illustrated by photographs and over 400 colour images. Second Revised Edition. Condition: very good – light lean to spine. Softcover binding. Publisher: Struik Nature Pty Date Published: 2012 Publication…
The Geology of South Africa – Hatch, F.H., and Corstorphine, G S
Covering pre- and post-Karroo rocks; Northern Cape Colony, Bechuanalland; Rhodesia; Transvaal; Natal. Maps, fold out maps illustrations and tables. Bound in green cloth with gilt lettering to spine and gilt upper page edges. Second Edition. Condition: very good – bumping to corners, light edge wear to upper and lower spine, lightly worn boards, black ink…
The Moraeas of Southern Africa. – Goldblatt, Peter
A Systematic Monograph of the Genus in South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Transkei, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe. A monograph includes 101 species in southern Africa. Full page colour illustrations. Bound in blue cloth with gilt lettering to spine. First edition. Condition: very good – bookplate from prior owner pasted to front paste-down endpaper and very slight…
African Dolls Afrikanische Puppen: The Dulger-Collection – Jolles, Frank
Written in English and German. Documents a unique collection of traditional Zulu figures. Includes maps of Kwazulu Natal as endpapers. 81 full page colour photograph plates. First Edition. Condition: very good. Hardcover binding. Publisher: Arnoldsche Date Published: 2010 Publication Place: Stuttgard Condition: Very good. Binding: Hardcover Dimensions: 4to. 176 pg.
The Original of Laura (Dying is Fun) – Nabokov, Vladimir & Nabokov, Dmitri (ed.)
An incomplete novel by Vladimir Nabokov, which he was writing at the time of his death in 1977. It was published by Nabokov’s son Dmitri Nabokov in 2009, despite the author’s request that the work be destroyed upon his death. First UK edition, Condition: very good. Jacket condition: very good. Hardcover binding. Publisher: Penguin Classics…
George Rex: Death of a Legend – Storrar, Patricia
1974 historical book by Patricia Storrar that debunks the long-standing myth regarding the life and lineage of George Rex. Contains 12 b&w plate illustrations. First Edition. Condition: very good – foxing to endpapers, light edge wear, foxing to page edges. Jacket condition: good – chunk missing from front panel, sunning to spine, foxing to inner…
The Bell Jar – Lucas, Victoria (Plath, Sylvia)
A rare first edition second printing of Sylvia Plath’s “The Bell Jar” issued under the pseudonym of Victoria Lucas in 1963. Identical in all ways to the first printing other than the addition on the copyright page “reprinted in 1963”. Both printed in the same year that Sylvia Plath died. First edition, second printing. Condition:…
Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland. – Schreiner, Olive
Banned in the UK and when published excluded the hanging frontispiece. Bound in green cloth with a darker green border. Gilt lettering and design to front board and spine. First USA edition. Condition: very good – light bumping to corners, wear to spine edges, spot of discoloration to front board, minimal foxing scattered throughout. Hardcover…
Dream Life and Real Life. A Little African Story – Schreiner, Olive (Ralph Iron)
Three short stories by South African author, Olive Schreiner. Written under a pseudonym of Ralph Iron. Fourth impression. Condition: very good – age toning to free endpaper, lightly scattered foxing, bumping to corners, wear to edges. Hardcover binding. Publisher: T Fisher Unwin Date Published: 1893 Publication Place: London Condition: very good – age toning to…
Afar in the Desert and Other South African Poems – Pringle, Thomas
Thomas Pringle was a Scottish poet who spent several years in South Africa during the early 19th century. ‘Afar in the Desert and Other South African Poems’ is a collection of his most famous works, including the iconic ‘Afar in the Desert’, accompanied by a detailed memoir of Pringle’s life and notes by J. Noble….
The Dark Stream. The Story of Eugene Marais – Rousseau, Leon
The biography of Eugene Marais: journalist, pet, author, naturalist, hypnotist, doctor, psychologist, advocate, and magician. Reprint. Condition: very good – slight sunning to spine and very slight lean to spine. Softcover binding. Publisher: Jonathan Ball Publishers Date Published: 1999 Publication Place: Johannesburg Condition: very good – slight sunning to spine and very slight lean to…