Description: A Woman’s Memories of the War by Violet Brooke-Hunt This is the rare 1901 First Edition “Miss Brooke-Hunt volunteered to assist soldiers in South Africa, and has written of her experiences from a woman’s perspective. After a short stay in Cape Town she was stationed at Naauwport, Bloemfontein and Pretoria, successfully organising the provision of extra rations, etc as well as entertainment to uplift the spirits of convalescent soldiers of all ranks.” Front cover and spine Further images of this book are shown below Publisher and place of publication Dimensions in inches (to the nearest quarter-inch) London: James Nisbet & Co. Limited, 21 Berners Street. 4¾ inches wide x 7½ inches tall Edition Length 1901 First Edition 244 pages + Publisher’s advertisement Condition of covers Internal condition Original green cloth lined in black on the front cover and blocked in black on the spine, with the addition of the logo of The Times newspaper. The front cover is heavily rubbed, with some old staining, some loss of colour, and significant variation in colour. The rear cover is marked and with some old stains, but is not as badly affected. The spine is slightly marked and very dull. The spine ends and corners are bumped and frayed and There are some indentations along the edges of the boards, including a small frayed patch on the front leading edge. There is a gift inscription on the front pastedown ("Arthur Jenks from his friend & Vicar. Easter 1915". The end-papers are browned and discoloured. There is some scattered foxing which is heaviest on the first and last dozen pages leaving the text, overall, clean throughout on tanned paper. There is another previous owner's name and address in pencil on the rear pastedown, which has been erased and, just above this, the remnants of a removed label. The edge of the text block is dust-stained and foxed. There is a small stain on the bottom edge of the frontispiece. Dust-jacket present? Other comments No The covers are dull and stained, with the front cover being the worst affected, though the text is clean throughout. The addition of "The Times" logo on the spine would tend to indicate that this volume was once in The Times' Library; there are certainly no markings which would indicate it was, rather, from The Times Book Club. Illustrations, maps, etc Contents There is a frontispiece only (shown below). There are eighteen untitled chapters. Post & shipping information Payment options The packed weight is approximately 550 grams. Full shipping/postage information is provided in a panel at the end of this listing. Payment options : UK buyers: cheque (in GBP), debit card, credit card (Visa, MasterCard but not Amex), PayPal International buyers: credit card (Visa, MasterCard but not Amex), PayPal Full payment information is provided in a panel at the end of this listing. A Woman’s Memories of the War Excerpt: X Four o'clock in the morning is not a pleasant hour at which to make a start, but there being only one train a day by which passengers could go north, there was no option, and accordingly at that hour one morning I patiently waited on the platform for the mail, knowing that it might be punctual, or might be several hours late. A sleepy railway staff officer was hopeful as to our chances of getting off in fairly good time, but eventually it meant a two hours' wait, with only my boxes to sit upon, and a chilly morning into the bargain. By now, however, I had got quite accustomed to going without most things which once had seemed necessities, or, at any rate, accepting their absence in a philosophical spirit, so I resigned myself to the long wait, fortified by an excellent cup of hot coffee, produced by a friend who came to see me off. At last, however, we started, and slowly the train dragged up the slope, past the little house where I had stayed so many weeks, through the hospital camp, where the day orderlies were just going on duty, and then on through a strange country altogether. The journey was uneventful, save for the usual long delays on sidings and the inevitable "breakdown" of the engines, and my soldier-servant, who had quite a genius for cooking, had plenty of scope for his ingenuity, as the P.M.O. and other friends had all sent farewell offerings, in the shape of compressed or tinned food of every description. At Norval's Pont, a really pretty, English-looking place at the entrance to the Orange River Colony, I was pounced upon by various officials, who thought they had discovered another unauthorised lady to be " returned " ; but, luckily, all my passes and permits were unanswerable, and so I was allowed to go peacefully on my way. Bloemfontein we reached about five in the morning; but a sergeant, who came on a tour of inspection, informed me it was " against orders" to leave the station till seven, though if I liked he would go and wake up the station officer and get me special permission. I assured him I was very comfortable where I was, and had no wish to wander about Bloemfontein before daylight, so being a practical person, he proposed showing my servant where boiling water could be got, and I soon had a very welcome early breakfast. Lodging accommodation was as great a difficulty in Bloemfontein as it had been in Naauwpoort, but what seemed likely to be a pleasant arrangement had been made for me, and a room had been secured for me at Cathedral College, where most of the chaplains were staying, it being a boarding-house, managed by the lady who had been housekeeper to the late Bishop. It sounded imposing, and certainly, when I arrived at the quaint little house soon after seven, to be met and welcomed in a cheery way by Mr. Dean Oliver, now Garrison Chaplain here, I felt sure of being happy in Bloemfontein. For Mr. Oliver, in his characteristic way, at once sketched out a formidable list of work waiting to be done. My first duty lay in fitting up and organising a large empty schoolroom, which had been generously handed over by the Dean to the chaplains for the use of the soldiers. This we decided to make into as comfortable an Institute as was possible, and I at once began to forage about to see what could be got in the way of furniture or fittings. Shops there were in abundance, but they were painfully devoid of anything likely to be needed for daily use, and the prices were exorbitant. However, the things had to be got somehow, and, thanks to a generous donation from a friend in England, money was available. So by next day I had arranged for the building to be colour-washed inside; benches and tables were ordered, while crockery, tea-urns, and kettles had been purchased, all, of course, at prices about six times their normal value. I soon came across many old friends among the soldiers, and they, with their friends, came round continually to the building to "lend a hand." They were very keen on decorating the walls, and a Corporal of the C.I.V.'s having unearthed quantities of blue and scarlet braid, some wonderfully ingenious frames were made to border a few pictures I had collected from the weekly papers. Altogether, the room was soon made to look bright and homelike, and when, four days later, it was opened by Lady Roberts as a Soldiers' Institute, it was filled to overflowing. The delight of the men was quite touching at finding themselves once more within four walls, with tables to write at, seats to sit on, and, best of all, cups and saucers to drink out of, and their behaviour in the Institute left nothing to be desired. Provisions were a difficulty, as, if these had to be obtained from civilian dealers, they could not be sold to the men at reasonable prices, and so I resolved to see if we could not make some arrangement with the Army Supply Stores. This, fortunately, proved to be possible, and the cheap food was another great attraction to the men, who were very tired by now of field rations and camp cookery. Before I had been many days in Bloemfontein I had realised that it was a veritable city of hospitals. Every large building in the least suitable had been commandeered for the purpose —girls' schools, boys' schools, sisterhoods, colleges, and public buildings—and there were besides the two large tent hospitals, 8 and 9, and two field hospitals. No one not on the spot can realise the extent to which the medical resources were strained, for the simple reasons that the outbreak of enteric was unprecedentedly sudden and violent; that though there were ample hospital supplies at Cape Town, they could only be got up very gradually; and that the fact of Lord Roberts being obliged to keep his large force for several weeks in so unhealthy a place increased greatly the amount of disease and the difficulties which had to be encountered. During the whole time that I was at Bloemfontein I spent many hours of each day in some hospital or another, being allowed to go in and out quite freely; and the men, knowing I had no connection with any one hospital, always talked openly and frankly to me, so that, though I have no wish to go into the hospital controversy in these articles, I want to assure those who lost any near and dear to them in Bloemfontein that they would have been amazed to see how much was done for the comfort and care of the sick under circumstances of overwhelming difficulty. I fully admit that there are many points in the Army medical system which could, which must be improved upon, and which could only be tested in a campaign such as this . . . A Woman’s Memories of the War Contemporary Review 22 June 1901 A Woman's Memories of the War. By Violet Brooke-Hunt. (J. Nisbet and Co. 5s.)—If any one wants "a stream of facts" about the war, about combatants and non-combatants, he can find what he wants here. Miss Brooke-Hunt is quite candid. She does not conceal her sympathies, but she does not try to make out a case. She is not bent upon making her stream run one way. She tells us plainly what she saw, and the general impression left is, that on the whole we have every reason to be proud of the way in which our countrymen have borne themselves. The special work to which she put her hand was the providing of soldiers' clubs and generally furnishing help and comforts which were not within the range of official action. The officials were mostly helpful. "I never saw," she writes, "at Cape Town, or elsewhere, any woman who earnestly wanted to be of use, possessing capability and tact, and, above all, prepared to loyally co-operate with the authorities, who did not find some niche to fill, or who failed to meet with every consideration and assistance." Of course the foolish women—those who, not being nurses, wanted "to nurse wounded officers"— created a prejudice ; but this was overcome. We wish that we had space for the stories that we should like to quote. Not having it, we can but earnestly recommend our readers to find them out for themselves. They are everywhere. Here is one to show how a really thoughtful officer is appreciated. A subaltern who had to bring up some cavalry details had done his best to make his men comfortable. One morning after a night of bivouacking he found on waking a tent-like arrangement of blankets about him. The explanation was that it had come on to rain hard, and the men drew lots who should give up their blankets—he was not as well hardened as they, it was thought—and the shelter was made without waking him. Another story is not quite so agreeable. The author saw a number of soldiers filling their officers' water- bottles. They dipped them in at the first place handy, where the water was anything but good. One bottle, however, was taken up to where a fresh stream came in, and filled, after much trouble, with clean water. "Captain —— is a real gentleman and looks after his men, and there aren't too many of his sort among our lot. So we are not going to let him swallow any blooming microbes if we can help it." Officers, please note. Please note: to avoid opening the book out, with the risk of damaging the spine, some of the pages were slightly raised on the inner edge when being scanned, which has resulted in some blurring to the text and a shadow on the inside edge of the final images. Colour reproduction is shown as accurately as possible but please be aware that some colours are difficult to scan and may result in a slight variation from the colour shown below to the actual colour. In line with eBay guidelines on picture sizes, some of the illustrations may be shown enlarged for greater detail and clarity. There is a gift inscription on the front pastedown ("Arthur Jenks from his friend & Vicar. Easter 1915". The end-papers are browned and discoloured. U.K. buyers: To estimate the “packed weight” each book is first weighed and then an additional amount of 150 grams is added to allow for the packaging material (all books are securely wrapped and posted in a cardboard book-mailer). The weight of the book and packaging is then rounded up to the nearest hundred grams to arrive at the postage figure. I make no charge for packaging materials and do not seek to profit from postage and packaging. Postage can be combined for multiple purchases. Packed weight of this item : approximately 550 grams Postage and payment options to U.K. addresses: Details of the various postage options can be obtained by selecting the “Postage and payments” option at the head of this listing (above). Payment can be made by: debit card, credit card (Visa or MasterCard, but not Amex), cheque (payable to "G Miller", please), or PayPal. Please contact me with name, address and payment details within seven days of the end of the listing; otherwise I reserve the right to cancel the sale and re-list the item. Finally, this should be an enjoyable experience for both the buyer and seller and I hope you will find me very easy to deal with. If you have a question or query about any aspect (postage, payment, delivery options and so on), please do not hesitate to contact me. International buyers: To estimate the “packed weight” each book is first weighed and then an additional amount of 150 grams is added to allow for the packaging material (all books are securely wrapped and posted in a cardboard book-mailer). The weight of the book and packaging is then rounded up to the nearest hundred grams to arrive at the shipping figure. I make no charge for packaging materials and do not seek to profit from shipping and handling. Shipping can usually be combined for multiple purchases (to a maximum of 5 kilograms in any one parcel with the exception of Canada, where the limit is 2 kilograms). Packed weight of this item : approximately 550 grams International Shipping options: Details of the postage options to various countries (via Air Mail) can be obtained by selecting the “Postage and payments” option at the head of this listing (above) and then selecting your country of residence from the drop-down list. For destinations not shown or other requirements, please contact me before buying. Due to the extreme length of time now taken for deliveries, surface mail is no longer a viable option and I am unable to offer it even in the case of heavy items. I am afraid that I cannot make any exceptions to this rule. Payment options for international buyers: Payment can be made by: credit card (Visa or MasterCard, but not Amex) or PayPal. I can also accept a cheque in GBP [British Pounds Sterling] but only if drawn on a major British bank. Regretfully, due to extremely high conversion charges, I CANNOT accept foreign currency : all payments must be made in GBP [British Pounds Sterling]. This can be accomplished easily using a credit card, which I am able to accept as I have a separate, well-established business, or PayPal. Please contact me with your name and address and payment details within seven days of the end of the listing; otherwise I reserve the right to cancel the sale and re-list the item. Finally, this should be an enjoyable experience for both the buyer and seller and I hope you will find me very easy to deal with. If you have a question or query about any aspect (shipping, payment, delivery options and so on), please do not hesitate to contact me. Prospective international buyers should ensure that they are able to provide credit card details or pay by PayPal within 7 days from the end of the listing (or inform me that they will be sending a cheque in GBP drawn on a major British bank). Thank you. (please note that the book shown is for illustrative purposes only and forms no part of this listing) Book dimensions are given in inches, to the nearest quarter-inch, in the format width x height. Please note that, to differentiate them from soft-covers and paperbacks, modern hardbacks are still invariably described as being ‘cloth’ when they are, in fact, predominantly bound in paper-covered boards pressed to resemble cloth. Fine Books for Fine Minds I value your custom (and my feedback rating) but I am also a bibliophile : I want books to arrive in the same condition in which they were dispatched. For this reason, all books are securely wrapped in tissue and a protective covering and are then posted in a cardboard container. If any book is significantly not as described, I will offer a full refund. Unless the size of the book precludes this, hardback books with a dust-jacket are usually provided with a clear film protective cover, while hardback books without a dust-jacket are usually provided with a rigid clear cover. The Royal Mail, in my experience, offers an excellent service, but things can occasionally go wrong. However, I believe it is my responsibility to guarantee delivery. If any book is lost or damaged in transit, I will offer a full refund. Thank you for looking. Please also view my other listings for a range of interesting books and feel free to contact me if you require any additional information Design and content © Geoffrey Miller
Price: 295 GBP
Location: Flamborough, Bridlington
End Time: 2024-09-01T17:07:46.000Z
Shipping Cost: 25.37 GBP
Product Images
Item Specifics
Returns Accepted: Returns Accepted
After receiving the item, your buyer should cancel the purchase within: 30 days
Return policy details: If any book is significantly not as described, I will offer a full refund, including return postage. All books are securely wrapped and posted in a cardboard container.
Return postage will be paid by: Buyer
Non-Fiction Subject: History & Military
Year Printed: 1901
Country/Region of Manufacture: South Africa
Binding: Hardback
Author: Violet Brooke-Hunt
Language: English
Publisher: James Nisbet & Co. Limited
Place of Publication: London
Special Attributes: 1st Edition
