James Findlay Collectable Books & Antique Maps

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James Findlay Collectable Books & Antique Maps Online antiquarian bookshop 🇿🇦 Antique maps, political posters, travel posters, collectable books, documents & art
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James Findlay has been a dealer in antiquarian books, antique maps, posters, engravings, and paintings since 1997. As of April 2026 the business has moved completely online after many happy years of operating retail stores in Saxonwold, Rand Club and The Cape Town Club. Based in Nottingham Road, his work is his vocation. He specializes in unusual ‘pieces on paper’, such as manuscript letters, rare Africana, first editions, banned political posters and pamphlets. In addition to his extensive collection of antique maps, dating from the mid 16th to the early 20th century, he also stocks watercolours, oils and other signed works of art. His descriptions of each precious item are meticulous. With his extensive hands-on experience of artefacts, James has a rare gift for bringing the nuances of history to life. James focuses on books, maps and collectables that are worth about R1,000 each or more. James Findlay Collectable Books;
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 0797794574
Online Collectable Books: https://www.jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BookCollecting
Twitter: https://twitter.com/antique_maps
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jamesfindlaymaps
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/james-findlay-collectable-books-antique-maps/

25% Discount on all stock.I’ve just been offered a fabulous collection and need to raise a few hundred thousand Rand. I’...
21/10/2026

25% Discount on all stock.

I’ve just been offered a fabulous collection and need to raise a few hundred thousand Rand. I’ll be running this less 25% special until I’ve reached that goal.

Please take a look at all our Categories
https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/categories

A Page from Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy). Incunabula, c.1491Notice how Dante’s actual poetic verses...
17/10/2026

A Page from Dante Alighieri’s Divina Commedia (Divine Comedy). Incunabula, c.1491

Notice how Dante’s actual poetic verses are printed in a larger, bolder typeface, while a denser, smaller text wraps completely around them.
In the early decades of printing (the incunabula era up to the early 1500s), printers adopted the layout of medieval manuscripts. Important classical or religious texts were rarely printed alone; they were surrounded by heavy scholarly commentary.

Some yellowish stains on the corners; creasing

200mm x 300mm

R7,500

https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/religion/a-page-from-dante-alighieris-divina-commedia-divine-comedy-incunabula-c1491

Naas Botha Vertel Alles- Rapport Street Poster (1983)Vintage newsprint street poster produced by the Afrikaans Sunday ne...
15/10/2026

Naas Botha Vertel Alles- Rapport Street Poster (1983)

Vintage newsprint street poster produced by the Afrikaans Sunday newspaper, Rapport.

These posters were traditionally printed on cheap newsprint and pasted on lampposts and outside corner cafes across South Africa to tease the weekend's big scoop. Because they were exposed to the elements and meant to be discarded after Sunday, finding one intact today is unusual.

The history behind this specific poster tells a fascinating story of a crossover attempt between South African rugby and American football during the height of sporting isolation.

The headline "Naas Botha Vertel Alles" translates from Afrikaans as "Naas Botha Tells All."

The poster dates back to 1983, capturing one of the most surreal chapters in South African sports history. Naas Botha—the legendary Springbok flyhalf and the "Golden Boy" of Northern Transvaal rugby—shocked the sporting world by traveling to the United States to try his hand at American football.

The Uniform Illusion: Interestingly, the poster shows Botha wearing a New York Jets jersey with the number 14. In reality, Botha never played for or signed with the Jets. He actually tried out as a placekicker for the Dallas Cowboys. The Jets uniform used for this promotional Rapport shoot was merely a stand-in to represent "American Gridiron" to a South African public that, at the time, knew almost nothing about the NFL.

The Amateur vs. Professional Clash: In 1983, rugby union was strictly an amateur sport. Botha's stint in America was a sensational, highly controversial move to see if the world's most dominant rugby kicker could transition into the unforgiving, hyper-professional world of American pro sports.

The Apartheid-Era Context: This move happened while South Africa was facing intensifying international sports boycotts due to apartheid. With the Springboks increasingly isolated from international test matches, Botha looked across the Atlantic for a new competitive stage.

Ultimately, Botha's American football ambitions didn't materialize into a regular-season NFL career, and he returned to dominate South African rugby for another decade. This piece of ephemera remains a brilliant, visual time capsule of the moment South Africa's biggest rugby icon tried to conquer the American gridiron.

480mm x 645mm

Slight creasing.

R1,000

https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/sport/naas-botha-tells-all

SS Persic White Star Line Passengers Contract Ticket (1900)The Persic had a long and varied career that spanned nearly t...
14/10/2026

SS Persic White Star Line Passengers Contract Ticket (1900)

The Persic had a long and varied career that spanned nearly three decades, touching on several major global conflicts.
The Boer War Service: On its maiden voyage in December 1899, the ship was immediately pressed into service related to the conflict in South Africa. It transported 500 British troops to Cape Town and later carried wounded soldiers and horses between Australia and South Africa.
World War I & The U-Boat Attack: During the First World War, it served as a troopship (designated HMAT A34). On September 12, 1918, while carrying 2,800 American troops, it was torpedoed by the German U-boat UB-87 near the Isles of Scilly. Despite a large hole in its hull, the ship remained afloat and “limped” back to port under its own power. Every soul on board survived.
Post-War Refit: In 1920, the ship was modernized to carry 260 Second Class passengers and returned to its primary route, often carrying Australian wool and fruit (including tens of thousands of cases of Tasmanian apples) back to London.

Cropped at the edges.
Laid down.

235mm x 307mm (size of grey card)

R750

https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/transport/ss-persic-white-star-line-passengers-contract-ticket-1900

Forever Africa: A Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Morocco by the renowned South African wildlife photographers and...
13/10/2026

Forever Africa: A Journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Morocco by the renowned South African wildlife photographers and conservationists Peter and Beverly Pickford (2004)

275mm x 310mm x 30mm

Tear in the dust jacket; minor wear to the corners and bottom edge.

R800

https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/photography/forever-africa

A Pioneering Work by South Africa’s First Female Museum DirectorMaria Wilman (1867–1957) was a towering figure in South ...
13/10/2026

A Pioneering Work by South Africa’s First Female Museum Director

Maria Wilman (1867–1957) was a towering figure in South African natural and social history. She was the second South African woman to attend the University of Cambridge (completing her Natural Science Tripos in 1888). In 1908, she was appointed the first Director of the Alexander McGregor Memorial Museum in Kimberley—making her the first female museum director in South Africa.

A 30-Year Labor of Love

The book was the culmination of nearly three decades of painstaking fieldwork. Wilman began amassing data, photographs, and rubbings of local rock art as early as 1906, traveling extensively by cart and on foot across the Northern Cape and into what is now Botswana.

When the first edition was published in Cambridge in 1933, it instantly became the definitive, standard text on South African rock engravings. It remained the uncontested authority on the subject for more than four decades.

The Cambridge Degree Irony

Though Wilman finished her studies at Cambridge in 1888 and her botanical work in 1895, the university did not actually confer formal degrees upon women at the time. It wasn’t until November 1931—just as she was finalizing the manuscript for the first edition of this very book—that Cambridge finally awarded her her official Master of Arts degree.

The 1968 Balkema Edition

This copy is the 1968 reprint published by A.A. Balkema. Balkema was an influential Dutch bookseller and publisher who moved to Cape Town after World War II. He became renowned for elevating the standard of South African publishing, producing beautifully bound, high-quality academic and historical texts. This edition introduced Wilman’s vital archaeological documentation to a new generation of post-war researchers.

245mm x 305mm x 30mm

Dust jacket chipped and worn at the edges.

R1,250

https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/art-books/rock-engravings-of-griqualand-west-bechuanaland

Poster of Miriam Makeba issued by Learn and Teach (c.1990)Foldout insert issued by Learn and Teach magazine, a progressi...
12/10/2026

Poster of Miriam Makeba issued by Learn and Teach (c.1990)

Foldout insert issued by Learn and Teach magazine, a progressive, grassroots literacy and political publication in South Africa active during the late anti-apartheid era (1980s to early 1990s).

295mm x 420mm

Slight age toning; small nick to the right side.

R1,250

https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/theatre/miriam-makeba-c1990

Hand coloured copperplate engravingThis 1805 engraving by John Cary, titled “A New Map of Africa from the Latest Authori...
09/10/2026

Hand coloured copperplate engraving

This 1805 engraving by John Cary, titled “A New Map of Africa from the Latest Authorities,” captures European geography at a critical crossroads. It sits precisely on the divide between speculative, myth-heavy mapmaking and the rigorous, empirical exploration of the 19th century.

https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/antique-maps-of-africa/by-john-cary-1805

Published in 1923 by Van de Sandt de Villiers & Co. in Cape Town, Die Sieketrooster (“The Comforter of the Sick”) by Rev...
08/10/2026

Published in 1923 by Van de Sandt de Villiers & Co. in Cape Town, Die Sieketrooster (“The Comforter of the Sick”) by Reverend Heinrich Kling is far more than just an early Afrikaans first-aid pamphlet. It sits at a fascinating intersection of indigenous ethnobotany, missionary history, and the early evolution of the Afrikaans language.

R2,500

https://jamesfindlaycollectablebooks.com/afrikaans-books/die-sieketrooster

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Nottingham Road

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+27797794574

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