A second series
In 1911 Mr. A.C.G. Lloyd, chief librarian of the South African Library in Cape Town, discovered among the manuscripts in the Dessinian Collection an important fragment of the diary of Adam Tas - not indeed a part of the original diary (that was long since lost) but a copy made at the Hague for the hearing in the Netherlands of Tas and his friends. With the encouragement of Mr. John X. Merriman, the Library's Board decided to have the diary published. The editing was entrusted to Prof. Leo Fouché, and in 1914 the Diary of Adam Tas (1705-1706) appeared, with outstanding historical notes by the editor. Heartened by the good reception of the Diary, three years later the Board published another work - a translation from the French of Baron van Pallandt's observations on the Cape (1803) which had been suppressed by the Dutch government of the day. This publication was also a success.
As the result of this success Merriman and Lloyd conceived the idea that following the example of the Hakluyt Society in England and the Linschoten-Vereniging in Holland, a society for the publication of historically valuable source material should be established in this country. Thus was the Van Riebeeck Society founded, with John X. Merriman as its first chairman, and in 1918 the first publication appeared, since when the Society has continued its work unbroken and with great success. Last year Vol. 50 was published and most fittingly the first series was concluded with the last of four volumes of Selections from the Correspondence of John X. Merriman.
Various considerations decided the Council of the Van Riebeeck Society to begin a Second Series after the publication of Vol. 50, the principal being the following. The printings of the first volumes were small so that it is impossible for a large percentage of our members of today to acquire a complete set of the publications. At least half of our volumes are out of print and several are extremely rare and highly priced when they do come on the market. The beginning of a Second Series will enable all those interested, both existing members and others who would like to join, to acquire a complete second set. Further, the appearance of our publications as designed 50 years ago, is no longer acceptable to the taste and typographical requirements of today. The start of