Rare Books

Featuring old, valuable and bibliophile books, the Rare Book Collection encompasses around 3,600 works covering the entire African continent. The collection consists mainly of titles published prior to 1918. Travelogues covering the whole African continent predominate among the texts from the 16th to the 18th century. Southern Africa is the geographic focus of most publications from the 19th and early 20th century. Besides travelogues and expedition chronicles, the collection contains ethnographic studies, (auto)biographies, colonial and missionary literature. The collection also includes a small stock of modern and contemporary books. These are either works from limited and numbered editions, elaborate facsimiles or autographed copies.