The found treasure

I think the first time I fell in love with these pale tattered look of very old books, was when I discovered the work of  Michele Lalande and Gilles Trillard.

Last week a friend of mine called to remind me of the Stellenbosch University book sale.

most of the old leather bound books I was hoping to find, had gone already, 

 I went through the shelves and picked out all the tattered ones left behind, selecting what appealed to me from the outside and took all I could lay my hands on..

,

before I tied them in bundles with waxed jute 

I discovered the biggest unforeseen surprise

   they all belonged to the cousin of my Husband's grandmother...

 my Husband was actually named after the de Villiers family   with his second name as 

 "de Villiers" which is the same as his mother's maiden name

 1894 - 1978

Author of short stories about the Overberg and an authority on Music and Genealogy
Professor of Zoology at Stellenbosch University for 36 years

Cornelius Gerhardus Stephanus de Villiers was born on 16 December 1894 in Dunghye Park, District Caledon, where he grew up and in his first years and attended a farm school. In 1911 he matricuated from school in Caledon.
He studied Zoology at the Victoria College in Stellenbosch (BA 1914, MA 1916). At 21 he started to lecture Zoology at the Transvaal University College in Pretoria and in 1918, he went to Zürich for further studies (PhD 1922. Thesis: Neue Beobachtungen über den Bau und die Entwicklung des Brustschulterapparates bei den Anuren, insbesondere bei Bombinator).
1923 -1959: Professor of Zoology at Stellenbosch University. Dr. Con as he was affectionally called by students and friends, was well known for his research on the origin and evolution of the vertebrates and presented his results at universities in Italy, Germany and the USA. In 1935 he was invited as a visiting professor in Rome, where he remained for 18 months and later also at different universities in German and the USA.
He was a very cultivated man and served on the executive board of the SABC for 12 years. His great love was music, especially singing (The Golden Age of singing), and he also gave lectures on music. He produced plays for Stellenbosch University and translated plays for them. He spoke six languages and translated literary works from German, Italian and Scandinavian. His short stories about the Overberg first appeared in Die Huisgenoot.
As a founding member of the Genealogical Society he contributed to a large extent to the revised version of Genealogies of old South African families (1966).
Con de Villiers died on 25 November 1978 at his nephew's house in Ceres.

  I was amazed at the wide selection of topics  Dr Con  was interested in...

 these books came from allover the world

(before the Amazon.com days!)

 The  books vary in topic from wine to religion

health and no less than  seven dictionaries in different languages

I honor the joy of this discovery , this incredible treasure .. 

 I would like to think this old pressed oak leave found in one of the books, was left there by Dr. Con himself, 
if not, by someone who admired what he left behind ....

Colette x

back to sorting, measuring and getting the heap of French antique linen ready for my French Brocante