Just when we get a little homesick, trust the Stanford Library to deliver some comfort. I know this above picture is slightly unclear, but if you look closely you will see that this is actually the title page of "A Few Months with the Boers" by Sophia Izedinova. Izedinova, a Russian nurse, worked on the Afrikaner side during the Anglo Boer War. Her recollections were first published in St. Petersburg in 1903.
Although reading of the antics of my forefathers in the Boer War brings a strange feeling of consolation, it is the rest of the writing on this title page that really brings me comfort. If you look even closer you will see that this book was originally translated from Russian by C. Moody, none other than my uncle. Even better, it was published by Perskor Publishers which was my grandfather publishing company. How strange to think that my grandpa, long since departed, published a book in 1973 which would make me think of him more than 35 years later...
As a subscript I should confess that I have not actually started with Izedinova's account, I am however reading Victor Pohl's "Adventures of a Boer family" which I'm enjoying greatly. In addition, Elsa and I am slowly working through the Stanford Library's extensive "Madam and Eve" collection...
Comments