Papers of JL van Schaik Publishers (Mss Acc 134)

Abstract

Johannes Lambertus van Schaik (1888-1965) immigrated to South Africa in 1911, and opened his bookselling business in 1914 in Pretoria. Mr JL van Schaik had had his professional training as a bookseller and publisher in the Netherlands. Initially he confined his publishing activities to Dutch and Afrikaans books. The first school books were published in 1918 and in 1921 he published the first dictionary. In 1938 the functions of bookshop and publisher were split and two separate businesses were established: Van Schaik Bookshop (Pty) Ltd , and JL van Schaik (Pty) Ltd (Publishers). JL van Schaik Publishers published titles in all the languages of the country and in a variety of genres. On 1 April 1986 JL van Schaik Publishers and Van Schaik Bookstores were incorporated into Nasionale Pers (NASPERS), one of the largest Publish¬ing houses in South Africa. In 2000 Mr Jan Jacob van Schaik (1917-2009) donated 1,9 linear metres of the Publisher’s records to the Unisa Library Archives. The documents include company records, historical photographs, private correspondence and family photographs. The Papers are of special value to researchers interested in the South African book trade and publishing business. The historical files on education, including concentration camp schools, on President Kruger, Gen JC Smuts, Dr DF Malan, the Voortrekker Monument, Pretoria buildings and the Delagoa Bay railways, are also of importance to scholars.