The Journal and Selected Letters of Rev. William J. Shrewsbury 1826-1835, First Missionary to the Transkei by Fast, Hildegarde H. (editor)

(Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press, for Rhodes University, 1994) 1868142612. Graham's Town Series, number 13. 8vo; original dark green cloth, lettered in gilt on spine, with publisher's device in gilt to upper cover; laminated pictorial dustwrapper; pp. xviii + 238, incl. index; maps; contemporary illustrations. Fine condition. "It is Shrewsbury's vivid description of ... encounters [with the Xhosa] which make his records a fascinating read, for they provide snapshots of two worldviews meeting, interacting, engaging and colliding. Shrewsbury's journal and letters also provide insight into the motivations and labours of the pioneer missionary who in 1827 established Butterworth, the first mission station in the Transkei. They describe his struggles with language difficulties, physical and emotional hardships, and an inability to relate to Xhosa culture. And, though Shrewsbury's writings can only faintly reflect the sentiments of the Xhosa, they depict a people bewildered by political upheaval, confused by a message they did not understand and suspicious of a white missionary whose motives they could not comprehend." .