Valentine Alexius Schoonberg
Encyclopedia
Valentine Alexius Schoonberg a Bavarian retail merchant and/or a missionary based at the Cape of Good Hope
in South Africa . He was suspected of being a co-conspirator with individual/s being held (around October 1800) at the Castle after sentencing for capital crimes. He printed the first known book (title plus 7 pages in paper covers) in the Cape, it is also the earliest known printed religious publication in South Africa. A translation, from English to Dutch, of a letter brought out by Dr. J. T. van der Kemp of the London Misionary Society in 1799 to their follower in the Cape entitled "Brief van het Zendelings Genootschap te London aan de Godsdienst-lievende ingezetenen van de Caap de Goede Hoop".
It is possible that he made use of Ritter's
press. Only one copy is known to exist and is in the South African Library
.
Cape of Good Hope
The Cape of Good Hope is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula, South Africa.There is a misconception that the Cape of Good Hope is the southern tip of Africa, because it was once believed to be the dividing point between the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. In fact, the...
in South Africa . He was suspected of being a co-conspirator with individual/s being held (around October 1800) at the Castle after sentencing for capital crimes. He printed the first known book (title plus 7 pages in paper covers) in the Cape, it is also the earliest known printed religious publication in South Africa. A translation, from English to Dutch, of a letter brought out by Dr. J. T. van der Kemp of the London Misionary Society in 1799 to their follower in the Cape entitled "Brief van het Zendelings Genootschap te London aan de Godsdienst-lievende ingezetenen van de Caap de Goede Hoop".
It is possible that he made use of Ritter's
Johann Christian Ritter
Johann Christian Ritter was a German in the service of the Dutch East India Company who came to South Africa in 1784. He was the first to print in the Cape, the earliest record is an almanac titled "Almanach voor't jaar 1796"....
press. Only one copy is known to exist and is in the South African Library
National Library of South Africa
The National Library of South Africa is the agency of the government of South Africa which maintains a national library of all published materials relating to the country.-Creation under the National Library Act:...
.
Further reading
- Wayback Machine copy of the "Records of the Cape Colony 1793-1831 copied for the Cape government, from the manuscript documents in the Public Record Office". Private Letter from Sir George Yonge to the Right Honourable Henry Dundas, Oct 22 1800 search for Schoonberg to find the relevant letter.