Colenso, John W. Zulu – English Dictionary. By the Roght Reverend John W. Colenso, D.D., D.C.L. Bishop of Natal. First Edition. Pietermaritzburg, P. Davis, 23 Church Street, 1861. 17 x 12 cm. viii, 552 pages. New (2025) deep red buckram. Black morocco spine label with gilt title. Very good condition. New sound binding. Internally a little dust dulled. Large corner of page 199/200 missing.

John William Colenso (24 January 1814 – 20 June 1883) was a Cornish cleric and mathematician, defender of the Zulu people, and biblical scholar, who served as the first Bishop of Natal. He was a scholar of the Zulu language. In his role as an Anglican theologian, Colenso is now remembered for views of the Bible that set off intense controversy.
Colenso was a significant figure in the history of the published word in 19th-century South Africa. He first wrote a short but vivid account of his initial journeying in Natal, Ten Weeks in Natal: A Journal of a First Tour of Visitation Among the Colonists and Zulu Kafirs of Natal. Using the printing press he brought to his missionary station at Ekukhanyeni in Natal, and with William Ngidi he published the first Zulu Grammar and English/Zulu dictionary. His 1859 journey across Zululand to visit Mpande (the then Zulu King) and meet with Cetshwayo (Mpande’s son and the Zulu King at the time of the Zulu War) was recorded in his book First Steps of the Zulu Mission. The same journey was also described in the first book written by native South Africans in Zulu – Three Native Accounts by Magema Fuze, Ndiyane and William Ngidi. He also translated the New Testament and other portions of Scripture into Zulu.

• Keywords: Africa · Classical & Old Literature · History · History & Culture · Language · Reference · Reference
• First edition
• Inventory Number: 104584AB

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