BICENTENARY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN PRINTING INDUSTRY

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Cachet: The cachet on this cover reproduces the title page of the earliest surviving piece of South African printing, a small almanac dated 1796. The illustration shows two cherubs at play among trees, framed by decorative lettering, with the words "Almanach voor't jaar 1796" and "Gedrukt by I. C. Ritter, Aan Caap de Goedehoop" set beneath in period script. Large decorative letters in soft rust and cream tones frame the almanac image, giving the cover the feel of an antique title page rather than a modern illustration. The gold number "200" sits in the bottom left corner beside the bilingual title "1784-1984 Die Suid-Afrikaanse Drukkersbedryf / The South African Printing Industry". Two stamps sit in the top right corner, the first showing the Old Provost building in Cape Town and the second a portrait of Thomas Pringle. Two Cape Town postmarks, each depicting an old printing press, cancel the stamps.

Info card

BICENTENARY OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN PRINTING INDUSTRY During 1984 the South African printing industry will be celebrating its bicentenary. The first acknowledged printer in South Africa was a German bookbinder, Johann Christian Ritter, who arrived at the Cape in 1784, bringing his simple printing appliances with him. He introduced the "miraculous art" from Europe, and part of one of his almanacs, the earliest genuine printing relic in South Africa, survives to this day and is housed in the South African Library in Cape Town. It is depicted on this cover. Private presses, however, were discouraged by the Dutch East India Company. By 1786 the Amsterdam authorities had twice refused the erection of printing presses. In September 1795 the British occupied the Cape, and in 1800 a proclamation was issued forbidding the citizenry to print anything whatever. Nevertheless, an up-to-date printing press was imported by Messrs Walker & Robertson, and in July 1800 this firm managed to obtain a monopoly for printing from Governor George Yonge. In August 1800 it published The Cape Town Gazette and African Advertiser, the forerunner of the present-day Government Gazette. Governor Yonge was recalled to England in 1801 and the printing works of Walker & Robertson were taken over by the Cape Government. For the next 22 years all major printing was to be done by the Government alone. The London Missionary Society, however, owned a printing press and a number of missionaries managed to break the monopoly from time to time. Among the British Settlers of 1820 were some experienced printers, and, with the Settlers accustomed to a free press, opposition against the Government's policy became inevitable. George Greig published South Africa's first independent newspaper, the South African Commercial Advertiser, on 7 January 1824, and on 5 March 1824 Thomas Pringle, who is portrayed on the stamp on this cover, published a magazine, South African Journal, containing verse and prose. Greig's press was confiscated and Pringle became entangled in a battle with the Governor, Lord Charles Somerset. Freedom of the press was eventually granted in 1828, and a new era in the history of printing in South Africa was inaugurated. From the press of Saul Solomon came the original Cape Argus in 1857, as well as the famous Cape Woodblock Triangle stamps in 1861. The oldest publication extant, apart from the Government Gazette, is Die Kerkbode, continuous since 1849. The printing industry has made a unique contribution to the maintenance of good relationships between employers, employees, the authorities and the public and in this respect is very largely self-regulating. The Industrial Council system itself and much of the industrial legislation was framed and forged out of the pioneer experience of the printing and newspaper industry. The Newspaper Press Union was founded as early as 1882, the South African Typographical Union in 1898, the Federation of Master Printers (now the South African Printing and Allied Industries Federation) in 1916, and the National Industrial Council for Printing in 1919.

Additional information

This cover is postmarked on 12 June 1984 in Cape Town. It carries two stamps marking two hundred years of the South African printing industry, one showing the Old Provost and the other a portrait of Thomas Pringle. Pringle's own printing venture ran him into direct conflict with Governor Lord Charles Somerset in 1824, a dispute that eventually helped bring about the granting of press freedom in South Africa in 1828.

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