In 1860, the 14-year-old Prince Alfred (later Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh) made a visit to South Africa while serving as a naval cadet aboard HMS Euryalus. This account commemorating the visit was written and published by the prominent Cape politician and author Saul Solomon (1817-92). The tour was seen by the South African press as a way to demonstrate to readers in Britain how far white settlements in the colonies had developed under British rule and to show the British government that they were ready for increased autonomy from London. Solomon was an advocate for increased self-government in the Cape Colony but was an opponent of a proposed confederation that would include all of Britain's South African colonies. His book details the events of the tour, during which Alfred visited each of these colonies (Cape Colony, Natal and the short-lived colony of British Kaffraria) as well as the Orange Free State. 
British Kaffraria was a separate Crown Colony in South Africa for six years between 1860 and 1866. It comprised the districts of King William's Town (now Qonce) and East London. The majority of its population was Xhosa and the name for the colony derived from the pejorative term 'kaffir', which was used to refer to Black South Africans. Both terms are now regarded as derogatory and have fallen out of use.

On the tour, Prince Alfred was warmly received by the white settler population, participated in hunting trips and met the Sotho king Moshoeshoe I and other African leaders. In his introduction to the book, Solomon claimed that the visit, while not as lavish as the one made by Albert Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) to North America the same year, had been 'one of unmingled pleasure to all concerned' and expressed his wish that further royal visits to South Africa would follow. The account was dedicated to Alfred and was copiously illustrated with photographs, mainly by Joseph Kirkman (active 1859-79) and Frederick Arlington York (1823-1903). Several of these were reproductions of paintings made during the tour by the artists Thomas William Bowler (1812-69) and Thomas Baines (1820-75).

This copy of Solomon's account of the tour was presented to Queen Victoria. It was specially bound in red goatskin with a design containing inlaid strips of blue, orange, green and yellow leather and bears the Royal Arms on both boards. The inside of the boards has white leather doublures with further inlays in black, green and red, the whole embellished with gold tooling. The book also contained four watercolours in place of Kirkman and York's photographs.
The titles of the photographs and watercolour illustrations in this book are listed below. Following standard cataloguing practice, they are given as printed and may contain outdated terms that are now considered offensive:

- title page - "Prince Alfred at the Table Bay Breakwater" - circular vignette, albumen print, photographed by Kirkman
- facing p. 2 - "Cape Point" - albumen print, photographed by Kirkman after a painting by Bowler
- facing p. 5 - “The Reception in Adderley-street, Cape Town” - albumen print, photographed by Kirkman after a painting by Bowler
- facing p. 6 – “Reception at Government House” - albumen print, photographed by Kirkman after a painting by Bowler
- facing p. 12 – “The Royal Observatory, Cape of Good Hope”- albumen print, photographed by Kirkman after a painting by Bowler
- facing p. 21 – “The Berg River Valley, from Drakenstein” - albumen print, photographed by Kirkman after a painting by Bowler
- facing p. 38 – “Graham’s Town, from the West” - albumen print, photographed by Arthur Green (active 1859-99) 
- facing p. 64 – “The Reception of the Prince by a Burgher Escort near Queen’s Town” - albumen print, photographed by York
- facing p. 67 - “The Prince’s Interview with the Tambookies [Thembu people]” - watercolour after a photograph by York 
- facing p. 80 – “Moshesh [Moshoeshoe] and his Counsellors” - watercolour after a photograph by York and Kirkman 
- facing p. 84 – “The Prince and his First Wildebeeste” - watercolour after a photograph by York 
- facing p. 89 – “The Hunt at Hartebeeste Hoek” - albumen print, photographed by Kirkman after a painting by Baines 
- facing p. 91 – “The Prince’s Travelling Equipage” - watercolour after a photograph by York and Kirkman
- facing p. 99 – “The Zulu War Dance in Natal” - albumen print, photographed by York after a painting by Baines 
- facing p. 118 – “Inauguration of the Table Bay Breakwater” - albumen print, photographed by York after a painting by Baines
- facing p. 126 – “The South African Public Library and Museum” - albumen print, photographed by Kirkman after a painting by Bowler. 
- facing p. 138 – “The Embarkation” - albumen print, photographed by Kirkman after a painting by Baines.