Jock of the Bushveld

Jock of the Bushveld is a true story by South African author Sir Percy Fitzpatrick. The book tells of Fitzpatrick's travels with his dog, Jock, an English Bull Terrier, during the 1880s, when he worked as a storeman, prospector's assistant, journalist and ox-wagon transport-rider in the Bushveld region of the Transvaal (then the South African Republic).

Not long into his career as a transport rider, one of his companion’s dogs had a litter of puppies. She was a well-respected bull terrier trail dog, though somewhat unattractive, and she had been covered by a pedigree bull terrier. Five of her six pups were the epitome of their breeding. They were strong, fat and had good colouring. However, one of them was a runt. He was weedy, ill-proportioned and was the victim of constant sibling attack. Since the runt had not been spoken for, Percy slowly came upon the idea of taking him on as his own. Jock was saved by Fitzpatrick from being drowned in a bucket for being the runt of the litter (he would ruin the litter if left with them). However, right at the last moment Percy was offered the pick of the litter. After a night of contemplation, he decided to stick with the little weakling of the litter. He called him Jock and it seemed as if the puppy knew that FitzPatrick was his master from day one. He even followed him home without any coaching. Jock was very loyal towards Percy, and brave.
Statue in front of the City Hall in Barberton, Mpumalanga

This was the start of many a great adventure. The odd little puppy grew into a great and fearless dog. He was well-liked, well-respected and well-behaved. He lived out his life at Percy’s side with unwavering loyalty and his loving memory inspired many a bedtime story to Percy’s three children. However, it was only when FitzPatrick had made his fortune, settled down to have a family and become an established and well-respected member of society that he took pen to paper at the urging of his children and shared these delightful tales with the rest of the world. ‘Jock of the Bushveld’ was first published in 1907. Jock’s tale is one that will creep into the hearts and minds of any dog-lover, regardless of nationality or race.

There is a 3D animated movie scheduled to be released in December 2010.

This fine edition will be on auction at http://www.antiquarianauctions.com/