Special Collections

Introduction

Background and location

The US Library Service acquired a substantial collection of rare and valuable books, documents, manuscripts and other material over many years by way of bequests, donations and purchases. Special Collections is located on the upper level of the JS Gericke Library (floor plan), the central library of the Library Service.

This section of the library has as its primary mission the acquisition and preservation of rare materials, making it accessible to clients as well as preserving it for posterity. The section consists of three sub-sections namely Manuscripts, Africana and Rare Books. Each of these sections provides a specialised service and concentrates on specific areas of interest.

Rare and valuable material was also acquired over a number of years by both the Theology Library and the Music Library and these collections are housed at the two libraries respectively.

Hours

Special Collections is open from 08:00 to 16:30, Mondays to Fridays.

Access restrictions

No material may be removed from any of the sub-sections. Photocopying is allowed in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Copyright Laws, unless books are declared not suitable for copying by the staff member on duty.

Contact information

Special Collections Division
JS Gericke Library
University of Stellenbosch
Private Bag X5036
Stellenbosch 7599
South Africa

Fax: +27 (0) 21 808 4336

Head (Spesial Collections): Ms. Mimi Seyffert (mseyf@sun.ac.za)
Tel.: +27 (0) 21 808 4398

Africana: Ms. Mimi Seyffert (mseyf@sun.ac.za)
Tel.: +27 (0) 21 808 4398

Rare books: Mrs. Anneke Schaafsma (anneke@sun.ac.za)
Tel.: +27 (0) 21 808 4881

Manuscripts (Tel.: +27 (0) 21 808 4881):
Mrs. Lynne Fourie (lf2@sun.ac.za)
Mrs. Marina Brink (mbrink@sun.ac.za)

Services

Services offered by staff include retrieval of original manuscripts and other material in the section, assisting clients with bibliographic searches and general assistance to researchers working in the section. Exhibitions, information sessions and guided tours of the section are offered for student groups and visitors. Digital scanning of images from the collections as well as photocopies for academic purposes are available to clients.

The collection

Manuscripts section

The collections in this section include manuscripts, correspondence, photographs, reviews, clippings, recordings and other personal documents of donors. These collections are carefully sorted, catalogued and numbered, culminating in detailed printed catalogues of large collections. These printed catalogues describe each item in the collection in detail, enabling researchers to decide at a glance whether they need to look at the original. This minimises the handling of precious manuscripts to a great extent. The catalogues also have subject and author/title indexes to assist the researcher. Catalogues are available in the section only, but a list of individual manuscript collections can be viewed here.

History

In 1967 the University received the valuable DF Malan bequest. To accommodate this considerable collection and other manuscript materials, it was decided to plan and equip a document centre. The section has developed into an effective research centre.

To date 324 separate collections have been received. The most important collections include manuscripts of literary figures such as CJ Langenhoven, NP van Wyk Louw, WEG Louw, DJ Opperman and Sheila Cussons. Collections of South African artists include sketches of Maggie Laubser, TO Honiball and Hugo Naudé. There are also a few collections connected with journalism and politics e.g. DF Malan, PJ Cillié and PA Weber, as well as the valuable collection of the vernacular architect, Dr. James Walton.

Africana section

The Africana section houses works dealing with sub-Saharan Africa. The collection includes several old travellers journals as well as books on Southern African art, natural history, politics and government, and many other areas. Most of the books in the section are accessible via the online library catalogue. Decorated with pictorial Africana and other items The F du Plessis Africana room in the JS Gericke Library remains the pride of the library and is well worth a visit.

History

During the latter part of the 1950’s Africana material was gradually separated from the main book collection of the library and housed in a separate room. At the beginning of the next decade the library could justly claim that it possessed an excellent, representative collection of standard Africana.

The journals of old travellers and works by other important visitors who wrote accounts of the Cape and the rest of the country were practically all present in the collection. Donations of material such as those of Dr. W. Leyds and Dr. Gustav Preller, Dr. H Vedder and Mr. GJ Joubert supplemented the original collection to about 5 500 items in 1960.

It was through the good offices of Prof. HB Thom that the Africana collection was enriched in that decade by the valuable Hugh Solomon library. Hugh Ross Solomon (1876-1956) was a Johannesburg lawyer who for many years had added to the Africana collection which he had inherited from his father, sir Edward Philip Solomon. This is a unique collection, consisting of some 1300 items, including maps and paintings. The library is still regularly acquiring material to augment the valuable collection of Africana, for instance material on the Anglo Boer War, current history and contemporary South African art. Today the collection comprises of more than 18 000 items.

Rare books section

The rare books section hosts an array of different books. All books considered extremely valuable, too large or small for open shelves and many more are kept in this interesting collection. From the smallest book in the library to the oldest! Not all of the material in the section is accessible via the online library catalogue, but a detailed card catalogue may be consulted. The section is divided into smaller parts concentrating on different areas:

The main areas of interest of BV 1 (the largest part of the section) are art books, English first editions, bibliophily, botany and history.

BV 2 consists of South African works including a large collection of South African English poetry.

BV 3 hosts a collection of old South African school books, while BV 4 is devoted to rare children’s books.

A recent acquisition to the rare books collection was the Kruger collection (BV K) of Afrikaans literature of the 20^th century – a comprehensive collection which includes many signed first editions and boasts complete sets of prize winning books representing all the major competitions for Afrikaans literature.

The most recent addition is BV Comics which will be supplemented with international comics to support a new comics course in the Fine Arts Department.

History

The rare books section was established in the late 1960’s to provide for the safe keeping of valuable art books and other rare materials. When the University acquired the extensive library of the late Cdre. Michael Scott the rare books collection was enriched by many first editions, leather bound books and other treasures.