Select from the links below:

Dr Frank Mitchell, Fellow of the South African Numismatic Society, on his introduction to numismatics: "My final downfall came then an old family friend showed me his collection. I listened spellbound as he introduced me to his coin portrait gallery. He allowed me to hold a Macedonian tetradrachm of Alexander the Great while he told me of his incredible exploits. My hand trembled as I studied the fine portrait of Alexander in his lion-head headdress. Two and a quarter thousand years ago he died – though only 33, the conqueror of most of the known world. Suddenly, as I studied the coin, the truth dawned – I was holding History in my hand!" Scott Balson's views - exactly! Scott met the famous South African numismatist at his home in Cape Town in 1978. His most striking memory of the meeting was when Mitchell produced an uncirculated (not proof) 1931 South African tickey (3d) and as Scott held the extremely valuable coin between his fingers Mitchell told him how he had found it while going through many, many thousands of coins... to Mitchell and Scott this piece was immensely more valuable than the proof piece... two like minds were one.  Other useful research material in the Balson Holdings Family Trust collection: Copies of Cape Parliamentary papers covering: An 1876 inquiry into the affairs of Griqualand East (pp 280) An 1879 inquiry into the "recent outbreak (of unrest) in Griqualand East with maps (pp225)

The collection of books, magazines and articles listed here is very large (numbering over 250) so it has been broken into two main search options (these books have been used to compile the new book "Children of the Mist" - more about this new book at this link). Over one third of the books shown below are so rare that they cannot be found in bookstores or even for sale anywhere on the web (9 and 10).  

Select key Griqua related books by:

• Date of First Publication of Griqua related books, or
  
  Image right: Just some of the rare books in the Balson Holdings Family Trust Collection
  

• Categories of Griqua Related Works
  The top fifteen rarest books
  The early days - early first hand reports and research
  The Missionaries - their experiences and published works - pre 1870 
  The Missionaries - their experiences and published works - 1870 +
  Works by settlers and travellers - pre 1900
  Works by settlers and travellers - post 1900
  Research based works (heavy going)
  Easy reading of the Griqua's history
  Books written in the unique Griqua language
  Numismatic (coin-related) works and articles
  e-Book Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa, by David Livingstone,
  and
  
  Contemporary Boer war books and rare documents
  Boer e-Book: Commando by Deneys Reitz

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.	Over 250 Griqua-related books held by the Balson Holdings Family Trust listed by publication date	.	.
Date of Publication	Title of book/resource	Author/s	S rating*
	Period: The Early Explorers
1673	An Account of the Cape of Good Hope and the Hottentotes, the Natives of that Country	William Ten Rhyne Henry Secreta Zevorzit	9
1682	History of the World (including Africa)	Peter Heylyn	10
1767	De Promontorio Bonae Spei (The Cape of Good Hope)	Gysbert Hemmy	9
1769	Histoire Moderne Des Africains	Par Rollins	9
1770	The Present State of the Cape of Good Hope and the Hottentots	Peter Kolben	9
1775	Histoire Moderne (Modern History) Volume 16 - Africa	M Rollin	9
1790	Voyage de Monsieur Le Vaillant dans L' Interieur de L'Afrique (French Edition)	Francois Le Vaillant	9
1790	Travels into the Interior Parts of South Africa	Francois Le Vaillant	9
1790	A voyage to the Cape of Good Hope Vol II	Anders Sparrman	9
1790	Second Voyage dans l'interieur de L'Afrique  (French Edition)	Francois Le Vaillant	9
1790	Travels in Various Parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa, During a Series of Thirty Years and Upwards	John MacDonald	9
1795	Sermons Preached in London, at the Formation of the Missionary Society	London Missionary Society	10
1796	The European Magazine (Vol XXIX) January - June 1796	Philological Society	9
1801	Voyage Dans La Partie Meridionale De L'Afrique	John Barrow	9
1802	An Account of Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa	John Barrow	9
	Period: The First Missionaries
1803	South African Mission London Missionary Society	Kircherer and Kramer	10
1805	Evangelical Magazine (1805)	Various	9
1806	Gleanings in Africa (rare first edition)	Various letters	9
1812	Walks of Usefulness	Rev John Campbell	6
1815	Travels in South Africa (first and second editions)	Rev John Campbell	8
1815	BOOK REVIEW Travels in South Africa, undertaken at the Request of the Missionary Society	The Quarterly Review	10
1816	Evangelical Magazine - Missionary Chronicle Vol XXIV	Various	8
1819	World's Displayed for the Benefit of Young People	Rev John Campbell	10
1819	"The Piety of Youth" and "World Displayed"	Rev John Campbell and Kiah Bayley	10
1820	Hints on emigration to the Cape of Good Hope	William Burchell	10
1820	Quarterly Review Vol XXII	John Murray	9
1820	BOOK REVIEW Burchell and La Trobe	The Quarterly Review	9
1821	A Journal of a Visit to South Africa	La Trobe	9
1822	Travels in South Africa.. a second journey	Rev John Campbell	8
1822	BOOK REVIEW Travels in South Africa.. a second journey	The Quarterly Review	10
1828	Researches in South Africa	Rev John Philip	9
1830	Voyages to & from the Cape of Good Hope with an account of a journey into the interior of S Africa	Rev John Campbell	10
1831	The Life Of Africaner, A Namacqua Chief, Of South Africa (RARE first edition Soft copy)	Rev John Campbell	10
	Electronic transcript of The Life of Africaner
1832	London Missionary Society Magazine	Various	8
1832	Voyages to & from the Cape of Good Hope with an account of a journey into the interior of S Africa	Rev John Campbell	10
1833	The Life Of Africaner, A Namacqua Chief, Of South Africa (First hard copy edition)	Rev John Campbell	10
1833	The Tribes near Delagoa Bay (15 page extract from 1833 Royal National Geographic Society publication)	William Cooley	9
1833	The Penny Farthing (UK Weekly Magazine - article about Hottentots)	Various	9
1834	Journal of Travels in South Africa - abridged by Rev John Campbell (three copies)	Rev John Campbell	10
1834	Journey to Lattakoo in South Africa - fifth edition	Rev John Campbell	10
1835	Journal of Travels in South Africa - Second abridged edition	Rev John Campbell	10
1835	Journey to Lattakoo in South Africa	Rev John Campbell	10
1836	Narrative of a Journey to the Zoolu Country, in South Africa	Captain A F Gardiner	8
1837	The Life Of Africaner, A Namacqua Chief, Of South Africa (Second hard copy edition)	Rev John Campbell	10
1839	Wild Sports of Southern Africa Second Edition	Capt William C Harris	9
1839-41	London Missionary Society Magazine	Various	9
1840	Harpers Discovery in Africa	Professor Jameson	9
1840	Journal of Travels in South Africa - Final edition	Rev John Campbell	10
1840	Voyages to & from the Cape of Good Hope with an account of a journey into the interior of S Africa	Rev John Campbell	10
1840	Six letters on the Church question (signed by John Campbell)	Rev John Campbell	10
	Period: The Early Hunters
1841	The Cape Records relative to the condition and treatment of the native tribes of South Africa from an inquiry (prepared for the British Governor in the Cape)	Donald Moodie	10
1841	Wild Sports of Southern Africa Third Edition	Capt William C Harris	9
1841	South African Sketches	Capt H Butler	10
1841	Memorials of South Africa	Barnabus Shaw	9
1844	A Narrative of a Visit to the Mauritius and South Africa	James Backhouse	8
1845	The Mission or Scenes in Africa	Captain Marryat	9
1845	Evangelical Magazine (1845)	Various	9
1846	Gospel among the Bechuanas (signed first edition)	Robert Moffat	9
1846	Memoir respecting the Kaffers, Hottentots and Bosjemans (Two volumes)	Lieut Col John Sutherland	10
1846	Evangelical Magazine (1846)	Various	9
1848	Journal Residence Cape of Good Hope, SOUTH AFRICA	Charles Bunbury	9
c1850	Harpers Family Library - Discovery in Africa	Prof Jameson	5
1850	A Hunter's Life in South Africa (rare second edition)	R Gordon Cumming	9
1850	Races of Men: A fragment	Dr Robert Knox	9
1852	Wild Sports of Southern Africa	Captain W C Harris	9
1853	The Kafir, the Hottentot, and the frontier farmer	Archdeacon Merriman	7
1855, 56, 58	A Hunter's Life in South Africa (three separate editions)	R Gordon Cumming	7
1856	Visit to Moselekatse, King of the Matabele	Robert Moffat	9
1857	Missionary Chronicle Magazine	London	8
1857 & 58	Notes on the Bible	Rev John Campbell	10
1857 & 58	Missionary travels and researches in South Africa	Dr David Livingstone	8
1857	Grammar and Vocabulary of the Namaqua-Hottentot language Searchable PDF (5 MByte)	Henry Tindall	0
1858	A Hunter's Life in South Africa	R Gordon Cumming	9
1858	Livingstone's Explorations in South Africa	David Livingstone	9
1858	Hunting Scenes in the Wilds of Africa	John Potter	9
1862	Natal en Nieuw-Gelderland	William Karel Ente	10
	Period: The Later Missionaries
1864	Zulu Land, life among the Zulu-Kafirs	Rev Lewis Gout	9
1871	The Diamond Advertiser - Kimberley 29 July 1871	Original Newspaper	9
1872	How I found Livingstone: Travels, Adventures and Discoveries in Central Africa	Henry M Stanley	8
1872	Library of Travel, Exploration and Adventure travels in S Africa	Bayard Taylor	10
1872 - 73	Harpers Magazine - complete magazine Volume XLVI....December 1872 to May 1873	Various	9
1873	Life in the Diamond Fields Slavery and Torture	Albert E Coleman	7
1873	Illustrated Library of Travel Exploration and Adventure	Bayard Taylor	7
1873	Compendium of South African History and Geography	George M Theal	9
1875	Harpers New Monthly Magazine (Article on David Livingstone)	Various	9
1876	Scenes and Services in South Africa (Presentation copy signed by Moffat)	Robert Moffat	9
1876-1906	Set of twelve key Cape of Good Hope yearly Native Affairs Blue Books - 1879-1906	Cape Parliament	10
1878	Reprint of speech on (the British) abandoning the Orange River Territory (1854)	Sir William Molesworth	10
1878	The Graves of Heiti-Eibib. The Pre-Historic Hottentot Race.	Dr. Theoph Hahn	9
1879	Through the Dark Continent	Henry M Stanley	7
	The Bureaucrats
1881	On Temperate South Africa - Royal Geographical Society (by Bartle Frere the Governor of the Cape)	Bartle Frere	9
1882	Cradle Songs of Many Nations	Walter Satterlee	5
1883	Return to an address of the House of Lords - Griqua Treaties 1834 - 1882	Various	9
1885	Gospel among the Bechuanas (later edition)	Robert Moffat	9
1885	The lives of Robert and Mary Moffat	John S Moffat	5
1885	The Immortal History of South Africa	M J Boon	10
1885	The History of the Orange Free State	M J Boon	10
1886	Popery, Ancient and Modern	John Campbell	10
1887	Roman Legion on Libyan Fields	Sihlobosami	10
1887	The White Chief of the Caffres	Maj-Gen A W Drayson	10
1888	Mariannhill Mission Newspapers - complete year	Mariannhill Mission	10
1890	Narrative of an Explorer in Tropical South Africa	Sir Francis Galton	7
1890	In Darkest Africa (Two Volumes)	Henry M Stanley	7
1890	Labors and Scenes in Southern Africa	Robert Moffat	9
c1890	Collection Box of the London Missionary Society	London Missionary Society	10
1891	Rambles in South Africa	Rev Dr Campbell	5
1894	Among the Matabele	David Carnegie	5
1894	The story of the LMS	C Silverster Horne	10
1894	The Story of South Africa	George M Theal	5
1895	A Question of Color	F C Philips	8
1896	Reminiscences of Kafir Life and History	Hon Chas Brownlee	7
1896	Davis' Bulawayo Directory and handbook on Matabeleland	Alexander Davis	10
1896	The Ruined Cities of Mashonaland	J T Bent	7
	Boer War Period
c1900	Collection of Boer War Book, Papers and Documents	Various
1898 - 1903	Records of south-eastern Africa (Complete set of nine volumes all first editions)	George McCall Theal	9
c1900	The Times war map of South Africa (Fourth edition)	The Times	5
	The most sought after book on the Griqua
1902	The Early Annals of Kokstad and East Griqualand	Rev W Dower	10
	Early 1900s
1903	In the Kraals of South Africa	John Ritchie	10
1905	With Sword and Statute	Major D B Hook	9
1907	Das Trappisten-Missionskloster Mariannhill	siehe Beschreibung	10
1910	Early days - pioneer life on the South African diamond fields	John Angove	9
1912	Cape of Adventure	Ian D Colvin	4
1914	The Diary of Adam Tas	Adam Tas	5
1916	Pioneers in South Africa	Sir Harry Johnston	5
1917	Robert Moffat: The story of a great missionary	Hubert Williams	4
1917	The Moffats	Ethel Daniels Hubbard	4
1918	Christina Forsyth of Fingoland, the story of the loneliest woman in Africa	W P Livingstone	3
1918	The Transkei	Miss M H Mason	9
c1920	Zululand its traditions, legends, customs and folklore	H L Samuelson	10
1922	Place names of the Orange Free State	Rev Charles Pettman	9
1922	Ukupila - Kwomzimba	Mariannhill Missionary Press	10
1923	The Transkeian Native Territories - Historical Records	Frank Brownlee	4
1926	The Fellowship of the Veld	Godfrey Callaway	4
1927	The Coinage of Griqualand	H Alexander Parsons	8
1927	The Cape Colour Question - A Historical Survey	W M MacMillan	5
1928	Banking and Currency Development in S Africa (1652-1927)	E H D Arndt	8
1931	The Grand Old Days of the Diamond Fields	George Beet	5
1932	Jubelfees-gedenkboek van die (NGK) Gemeente Grikwastad	A Dreyer	10
1934	Notes on the Coinage of the South African Republic	J T Becklake	7
1936	More Annals of Natal	A F Hattersley M.A.	4
1937	Galloping Jack	Napier Devitt FRSA	10
1937	Zulu Journey	Carel Birkby	4
1937	Die Noordwaartse Beweging van die Boere Voor die Groot Trek (1770-1842)	Dr P J van der Merwe	10
1937	Die Wordings en Verwordings Geskiedenis can die Koranna	J A Engelbrecht PhD	10
1937	The Romance of a South African village	M T R Smit	7
1938	Later Annals of Natal	A F Hattersley M.A.	9
1938	The Phonetics of the Hottentot Language	D M Beach	5
c 1940	The Griquas of Griqualand	S J Halford	5
1942	Die Grikwas en hul bure (The Griquas and their neighbours)	J F Jacobs	10
1945	Short history of the volunteer regiment of Natal and East Griqualand	Col Godfrey T Hurst	7
1945	The Matabele Journals of Robert Moffat	J P R Wallis	2
1945	The Matabele Mission (rare limited edition)	J P R Wallis	9
1946	Pioneers of Underberg	Peter McKenzie	9
1947	The Founder of Mariannhill	Berchmans Hofmann	10
1947	Against These Three	Stuart Cloete	4
1947	'n Griekwa "ietsigeit" (Things about the Griqua) - 3 copies	D H van Zyl	10
1948	The Orange River Sovereignty (1848-1854)	J F Midgley	9
1949	Uit die geskiedenis van Griekwaland-Oos - 2 copies	E C Coetser	10
1950	Catalogue of the coins of South Africa	Dr Alec Kaplan	8
1950	Those in Bondage	Victor de Kock	4
1950	King of the Bastards	Sarah Gertrude Millin	1
1951	Apprenticeship at Kuruman - being the journals of Robert and Mary Moffat (first written in 1820/28) (Two books - including number 18 of 35 presentation copies)	Oppenheimer Library	5
1951	Muntstukkie, Waar Kom Jy Vandaan	Wm D Simpson	8
1951	The Khoisan Peoples of South Africa	I Schapera	3
1953	Travels in the interior of South Africa (Signed by I Schapera)	William J Burchell	9
1954	A talk on Old Umzimkulu	Miss Freda Paynter	9
	More recent works
1955	Lightest Africa	F Spencer Chapman	2
1955	A history of currency in South Africa	Miss E M Shaw	6
1960	Hancock's Drift	F W Powell	10
1962	Stanford's Reminiscences (Set of two books)	J W MacQuarrie	3
1962	British Colonial Coins and Tokens (reprinted from the American Numismatic Association's "The Numismatist")	J Verner Scaife jnr	7
1964+	A man of Faith and Action	Sr Annette Buschgerd	8
1965	From Real to Rand	J T Becklake	3
1966	Tokens of Southern Africa. A Catalogue Based on the Collection in the Africana Museum	E J Maynard	7
1967	Travels in S Africa and Travels in S Africa, a second journey (Reprints of the two Books - see above)	Rev John Campbell	7
1967	Travels in the interior of South Africa - 1811-12 (First print 1822)	William J Burchell	7
1968	Woodcut Vignettes from "Travel in the interior of South Africa"	William John Burchell	1
1968	The Cape Coloured People 1652 - 1937	J S Marais	4
1968	From Barter to Barclays	Eric Rosenthal	3
1969	Gleanings in Africa (reprint of 1806 edition - see above)	Various letters	8
1970	The Tokens of Natal	Pat Moran	6
1970	Munte en die Mens	Matthy Esterhuysen	8
1970	The Story of Hottentots Holland	Peggy Heap	4
1971	Cape Good Hope 1652 - 1702 The First Fifty Years of Dutch Colonisation as seen by the callers	R Raven Hart	4
1971	Wortschatz der Khoi-Khoin (Namaqua-Hottentotten) - Dictionary Khoi-Khoi:German	J G Kroenlein	7
1971	A history of the regular and emergency paper money issues of South Africa	W Bergman	6
1973	Gentlemen of Brave Mettle	R Harber	6
1974	They came our way	Basil Holt	3
1974	The Kafirs Illustrated (Limited edition 950 facsimilie of extremely rare 1847 edition)	George French Angas	6
1974	Beyond the Cape Frontier	C Saunders and R Derricourt	4
1976	South Africa's First Gold Coin (Burgerspond)	Matthy Esterhuysen	3
1976	Transkei Independence, Black Viewpoint	Various authors	10
1976	In the shadows of the Drakensberg	John Shephard	6
1976	Adam Kok's Griquas	Robert Ross	5
1977	Slaves and Free Blacks at the Cape 1658-1700	A J Boeseken	3
1978	Cry the beloved country (signed limited edition)	Alan Paton	9
1978	Original copy of "Kence" (signed limited edition)	S Balson & C Graham	10
1978	Kence, the trade tokens of Strachan & Co	S Balson & C Graham	9
1978	Tokens of S Africa and their History	Dr G P Theron	5
1978	The Coinage of Griqua Town - article in "Antiques in South Africa" 1978 (pp103-105)	Dr F K Mitchell	3
1978	The Early Annals of Kokstad and East Griqualand (Reprint of Dower's 1902 book with notes)	Killie Campbell Library	4
1980	Forgotten Frontiersmen	Alf Wannenburgh	4
1982	The Mount Currie Express, the stamp of East Griqualand	Justice T M Mullins	9
1983	Kuruman Moffat Mission	Alan Butler	9
1984	On the high flats of Natal	Valerie Woodley	9
1984	Post Office Stone - follow up article about Mount Currie Express Stamp	Justice T M Mullins	9
1984	Groep Sonder Grense	H F Heese	10
1985	No Man's Land - Griqualand	Ken Strachan	10
1985	Khoikhoi and the founding of White South Africa	Richard Elphick	7
1986	A Hunter's Life in South Africa (reprint of 1850 book)	R Gordon Cumming	3
1986	From Ox-Wagon to Motor Car in East Griqualand - Manuscript	Robert Percy Larkan	10
1987	Money in South Africa	C L Engelbrecht	3
1987	Kuruman Moffat Mission	Alan Butler	5
1989	Beloved Partner, Mary Moffat of Kuruman	Moira Dickson	5
1991	White Supremacy and Black Resistance in pre-Industrial South Africa	Clifton C Crais	5
1991	Hern's Handbook of South African Coins	Brian Hern	3
1992	The Touwfontein Letters - William Porter	Karel Schoeman	3
	Post Apartheid
1994	Long Walk to Freedom (signed)	Nelson Mandela	5
1994 (Dec)	Death in Pella: Mortuary rituals in a Namaqualand Reserve (Annals of the S African Museum)	G P Klinghardt	5
1995	Weapons of Peace	Peter S Anderson	5
1996	Griqua Records - The Philippolis Captaincy	Karel Schoeman	5
1997	The Mission Station at Griquatown 1801 - 1821	Karel Schoeman	5
1998	Dr Atherstone - Man of many facets (Three Volumes) (Pseudo Autobiography)	Nerina Mathie	9
	Post 2000
2000	David's Story	Zoe Wicomb	1
2001	Post Carts in Southern Natal and East Griqualand (Natalia)	Milner Snell and Ken Strachan	5
2002	The Griqua Captaincy of Philippolis, 1826 - 1861	Karel Schoeman	5
2002	Early History of Adam Kok and East Griqualand 1863-1875	C G de Bruin	9
c2002	Afrikaanse Kloek Goed	Hetta Hager	9
c2003	Kloek-Goed Twee	Hetta Hager	9
2003 (April)	Structure and process in the local govt of Pella (Annals of the S African Museum)	G P Klinghardt	5
2003	Madonela: Donald Strachan autocrat of Umzimkulu	Margaret Rainier	4
2003	PDF of Standard Bank's commemorative brochure of 125 years in Kokstad   - confirms use of Strachan and Co trade tokens as currency in 1870s (note nearly 1 megabyte in size!)	Standard Bank, Kokstad	1
2003	The South African Coin and Banknote Catalogue	Randburg Coin	1
2003	Hottentot Venus (Signed)	Barbara Chase-Riboud	5
2004	The Griquas of South Africa and their Money	S Balson	8
2004	Handbook on Southern African tokens	Brian Hern	3
2005	Strachan and Co Pty Limited, Merchants and Importers	Milner Snell	9
c2005	Adam Kloek - Goed (Two copies both signed - with separate explanation of words used)	Hetta Hager	9
c2005	Die Behae van God	Donald W Riekert	9
c2005	Wasempies Geluk	Donald W Riekert	9
c2005	Drome van die Jongmeisie	Donald W Riekert	9
2006	South African Coins and Patterns	Brian Hern	2
2006	"Old King Cole" James Cole of Riverside	Milner Snell	8
2006	Tokens of Mozambique	Allyn Jacobs	10
2006	van Amsterdam tot Noordkaap	van Rooyen, Malan and du Toit	5
April 2006	The Griqua of the Northern Cape - land ownership, identity and leadership (two copies - one signed)	Johan Cronje	5
August 2006	Children of the Mist, the lost tribe of South Africa (Just 20 Presentation Copies)	Scott Balson	10
2007	A small river in a great valley, a journey through old Umzimkulu	Milner Snell	8
2007	Claim to the Country (Research on the Bushmen)	Pippa Skotnes	4
2007	Tokens of the Transkei	Milner Snell	9
2007 (Oct)	Children of the Mist, the lost tribe of South Africa - First Edition 5,000 copies	Scott Balson	1
2007	Looking back - a photographic history of Kokstad (only 100 copies)	Kokstad Museum	8
2008	Hern's Handbook of South African Coins & Patterns	Brian Hern	3
2008	ZAR Coin Pieces of original art	Ray Leppan	2
2009	Traders and Trading Stations of the central and southern Transkei	M C Thompson	2
2009	Hern's Handbook on Southern African tokens	Brian Hern & Allyn Jacobs	2
October 2009	Transkei Heritage	Joan A Broster	1
2010	Tokens of the Transkei (colour)	Milner Snell	9
2010	Tokens of the Colony and Province of Natal (colour)	Milner Snell	9

*(S Rating) Scarcity Rating (includes scarcity, relevance and content) - with 10 being the most desirable and 1 easiest to acquire. Those highlighted in the deeper shades of red are highly sought after works.

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