In a recent blog I mentioned Sol T. Plaatje, I was not sure about his books on my shelves. Well, I discovered that I already have his book Mhudi.

Just yesterday I discovered another book by the very same writer. This tells a lot about the quality of my memory and not about the length of my bookshelves.

I found his diary of the Boer War, to be more precise about the battle at Mafeking. This is an edition edited by John L. Comaroff, who was given the original diary by a grandson of Plaatje. This book was on a shelf with other books on the history of South Africa.

When I held this book in my hand I thought: There should be another book on Mafeking, somehewere here. But where?

My eyes scanned books. It has something to do with boyscouts, a man buried in Kenya.  If I could remember his name I could take the first letter of his surname, go to the proper shelf and … we’ve got him!

Suddenly: Baden Powell. I searched at the B. I searched at the P. But to no avail. Again I put my eyes in scan-option. And then I discovered the book “Mafeking. Baden-Powell’s heroic defence of the besieged town during the Boer War”. But is was not written by the man himself, but by Duncan Grinnell-Milne. Please, forgive me for forgetting his name on this rainy afternoon. 

What will I do? Will I put the Mafeking-books together with my other books on the history of South Africa?

Or will I put them in alphabetical order, based on the writer’s name?

Let me think about that!