Rare original letters and documents written by Thomas Pringle and John Fairbairn have surfaced in Grahamstown.
Rare original letters and documents written by Thomas Pringle and John Fairbairn have surfaced in Grahamstown.
Currently in the possession of Fables book shop owner Ian Balchin, the papers are going to be auctioned online.
Fables is a registered seller with Antiquarian Auctions and bidding for the items will start at $500 each.
The one-week preview on www.antiquarianauctions.com began yesterday and bidding opens on Thursday 14 November. It closes a week later.
The collection comprises one letter written by Pringle, and eight penned by Fairbairn to their mutual friend Benjamin Moodie. They date from 1815 to 1828.
Balchin said these are some of the most interesting original documents he's ever had.
"Personally, I'm very excited about John Fairbairn's letters because he was a champion of the free press."
In his letters Fairbairn discusses important issues in his life, including friction with Lord Charles Somerset over the publications of which he and Pringle were editors.
Two earlier letters are also very interesting as they date to a period when Fairbairn was still living in London – a period of his life we know very little of.
Fairbairn is regarded as the father of free press in South Africa.
He left England for Cape Town in 1823, and soon after his arrival founded the South African Journal, a magazine that initiated years of struggle with the authorities press freedom.
Fairbairn and Pringle's alliance began when they took editorial positions at the South African Commercial Advertiser.
Fairbairn's persistence eventually paid off when in 1829 the Cape Town Colonial Government pledged to guarantee the freedom of the press.
Pringle was a Scottish poet and writer, known as the father of South African poetry.
Fables specialises in rare items and Afrikaner documents and is run by Balchin and Sally Schuller.
