North Australia List 37 |
1. ALBRECHT, Paul G.E.: Tnakintja Nurnaka. A Brief Exposition of the Christian Faith based on Martin Luther's Small Catechism, in Western Arrarnta with an English translation. Adelaide, printed by Openbook Publishers [for the Finke River Mission], 2000. Quarto, [i], 9 pages plus 232 double-page openings with the English text facing the Arrarnta. Synthetic cloth; gilt lettering (particularly on the front cover) flaking away; a fine copy. In a note printed on the verso of the front flyleaf, under the logo of Western Mining Corporation, the Finke River Mission 'acknowledges the contribution of WMC Ltd to it's [sic] program of providing Christian resource material to the Indigenous people of Central Australia'. The two-page preface by Pastor Albrecht provides interesting details about religious publications in Aranda (and all other variant spellings!) since Strehlow's New Testament of 1956. $125 [Enquire about this item] |
2. BASEDOW, Herbert: Narrative of an Expedition of Exploration in North-Western Australia. [An offprint from] Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch, Volume 18, 1918. Adelaide, RGSSA, 1918. Octavo, pages 105-295 plus 41 plates. Original wrappers slightly chipped, with a little loss to the head and foot of the spine and front hinge, and to three corners; several short closed tears to the front cover; top margin of the first 20 leaves and 8 plates very slightly water-cockled (and the plates slightly tidemarked); corners of the first and last few leaves a little rounded; a good copy. Undertaken initially (in April-June 1916) to explore the mineralogical possibilities of the region; the end result is of considerable anthropological significance. In the words of Dr Basedow: 'Realising the rare opportunity for conducting scientific research in a tract of practically unknown country, I resolved that, after the work entrusted to me by the Syndicate had been completed, I would on my own account continue the explorations further afield'. Inscribed in ink at the head of the front cover: 'A.S. Diamond Esqre. with the Compliments of H. Basedow. Kent Town 15/11/23'. McLaren 5067. $550 [Enquire about this item] |
3. BEADELL, Len: Still in the Bush. North Adelaide, Corkwood Press, 2002 [first thus]/ 1975. Octavo, [viii], 162 pages with illustrations by the author plus 30 plates (6 in colour) and endpaper maps. Gilt-decorated full kangaroo; a fine copy. One of only 50 numbered copies of this deluxe edition. $200 [Enquire about this item] |
4. BEDFORD, R., W.R. and J.: Memoirs of the Kyancutta Museum ... Number 1 [to Number 6]. Kyancutta, [The Authors], 1934 to 1939. Quarto, six issues (all published), 82 pages plus 52 pages of illustrations (printed rectos only) in all. Wrappers (a few slightly chipped); Number 5 annotated in pencil and showing signs of use; overall a very good, complete set of this remarkable journal. Each issue deals with a specific topic: New Species of Archaeocyathinae and other organisms; Further Notes on Archaeocyathi ...; Cyathospongia ...; Further Notes on Archaeos (Pleospongia) ...; An Outline of 'Biosophy' [and] Development and Classification of Archaeos. Memoir 3A (an addendum to Parts 1, 2 and 3), a processed work of 13 foolscap folio leaves printed rectos only, is included. Dr and Mrs Bedford and their son William arrived in Kyancutta (west of Port Augusta on the east-west railway line) in 1915; their activities in the small community were many and varied, and included setting up a Cottage Hospital (Mrs Bedford was a nurse) and a Co-op shop, running the Post Office and outback mail run, and setting up a thriving Museum and Library. They made several lengthy inland trips collecting the specimens upon which the original research in these journals is based. (What little biographical information we have has been gleaned from 'Life as I see it' by Leo H. Daniel, a processed work published in 1977). $650 [Enquire about this item] |
5. BEDFORD, Randolph: Inland Australia. A Series of Photographs. Article by Randolph Bedford. Sydney, Art in Australia, 1928. Quarto, 16 pages with 7 tipped-in plates. Overlapping salmon-coloured wrappers with a decorated blue and white titling-label mounted on the front cover; top right-hand corners of the covers bumped, with the extremities a little discoloured; some foxing; an excellent copy. The plates are from photographs by Dr Herbert Basedow (4) and Donald Mackay (3). $165 [Enquire about this item] |
6. BEETSON, D. Landale: Central Australian Exploring Rhymes and Camel-Back Jingles. By D. Landale Beetson (one of the party). Adelaide, Frearson & Brothers, Printers [for the Author], 1893. Octavo, 20 pages with a full-page lithograph. Recent stiffened wrappers on which are mounted the front and rear panels of the original wrappers (the rear one almost entire, the front one - on which the full title page details are repeated within a decorative border - trimmed to within 5-10 mm of the printed border); early ownership details ('Nell', 6/8/93) at the head of the title page, with a reasonably early signature (and a few numbers) on the original front wrapper; minor blemishes and discolouration to the inner margin of the first and last page (where crude early repairs have been expertly made good); overall a very good copy of a rarity. David Beetson was one of the small party on the Central Australian Exploring and Prospecting Association's Expedition, led by William Tietkens under the auspices of the Royal Geographical Society of South Australia in 1889. The party left Alice Springs in April, travelled to the west of Lake MacDonald and returned via Lake Amadeus and Ayers Rock to Charlotte Waters, arriving there in August. Beetson (1844-1913), in his preface, asks the public to bear in mind that 'the theme is original, and they are simply descriptive rhymes and jingles (especially jingles) on a subject of which I have had many years' experience'. Depasquale ('A Critical History of South Australian Literature, 1836-1930'), in his chapter on 1871-1900 verse, has this to say about, and quote from, Beetson - 'Jingle was not necessarily vacuous. D. Landale Beetson, for instance, captured a poignant moment during an exploring and prospecting mission in the following self-explanatory and simple rhyme: "In the centre - like a pedestal - / A small hill stands alone, / And, on top of this, a monument - / A towering mass of stone. / The leader called it Laura Vale - / After a daughter dear, / I lost but eighteen months ago, / just in her thirteenth year. // No costly stone, with inscription, / Over her little grave stands; / But here is a monument priceless, / And one not made by hands."' The printed title of the book's sole illustration is 'Laura Vale', and the explorer standing sombrely near his camels in the foreground is surely our poet ... Altogether, an evocative and elusive piece (well, it's not in McLaren); but perhaps it is not as elusive as the other items announced on the verso of the preface ('The Author purposes publishing "Rhymes on Lake Amadeus" together with "Out-Station Reminiscences"'). $1650 [Enquire about this item] |
7. BERNDT, Ronald M. and Catherine H.: Sexual Behaviour in Western Arnhem Land. New York, Viking Fund, 1951 [first edition]. Quarto, 248 pages plus 24 plates and 2 folding maps. Heavy card covers; spine slightly sunned and bumped, with the title written in ink at the head; an excellent copy. Viking Fund Publications in Anthropology, Number 16. $300 [Enquire about this item] |
8. BROWN, H.Y.L.: Government Geologist's Report on Explorations in the Northern Territory. [Adelaide, Government Printer], 1895. Foolscap folio, 34 pages plus 4 pages of plates and 15 geological maps and sections (3 folding) and a large folding map of the Territory. Drop-title; pinholes and small notches in the inner margins where sewn when bound (now neatly disbound); a fine copy. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 82 of 1895; one of only 620 copies. The results of four months' work in the latter part of 1894. 'I regret that I am able to present only a few photographic views, the greater number of the dry plates I took with me having become spoilt through the action of the climate or some other cause'. With the pencilled ownership initials of Tom Austen Brown. McLaren 5400. $900 [Enquire about this item] |
9. BROWN, H.Y.L.: Government Geologist's Report on Explorations in Western Part of South Australia. [Adelaide, Government Printer], 1898. Foolscap folio, 7 pages plus 2 plates, a large folding colour sketch section of the route and a large folding colour map (295 x 775 mm) of the route. Drop-title; small holes in the inner margins where sewn when bound (now disbound); an excellent copy. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 46 of 1898; one of only 650 copies. The expedition started from Fowler's Bay; the furthest northern point reached was about 100 miles beyond Ooldea and the country traversed was from fifty miles north-west of Ooldea to Hergott Springs in the east. Although primarily a geological expedition, the party was constantly hampered by water shortages and the detailed report contains numerous references to the difficult conditions. Not in McLaren. $330 [Enquire about this item] |
10. (Calvert Expedition). [WELLS, L.A.]: Journal of the Calvert Scientific Exploring Expedition, 1896-7. Equipped at the request and expense of Albert F. Calvert ... for the purpose of exploring the remaining blanks of Australia. Perth, Government Printer, 1902. Foolscap folio, 62 pages with 4 illustrations plus a very large folding map (625 x 865 mm). Titling-wrappers; an excellent copy. Western Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 46 of 1902; only 1200 copies were printed. The 'expedition was fitted out to explore the remaining unknown regions of Australia on similar lines to the Elder expedition'. Lawrence Allen Wells, third in command on the ill-fated Elder expedition of 1891-92, was leader. The party set out from Mullewa, east of Geraldton, on 13 June 1896; lack of water and the gruelling conditions brought the official expedition to an end on 6 November at Noonkanbah Station on the Fitzroy River, with two men unaccounted for. It was not until late May of the following year that Wells located the bodies of the missing men (his cousin Charles Wells and George Lindsay Jones, nephew of the explorer David Lindsay). The detailed accounts of the three search expeditions undertaken by Wells (accompanied by Nat Buchanan, George Keartland and Sub-Inspector Ord respectively) are included. Not least, strong on contemporary race relations. McLaren 16633. $2000 [Enquire about this item] |
11. DALY, Mrs Dominic D.: Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia. London, Sampson, Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1887. Octavo, xii, 368 pages plus a colour folding map (435 x 190 mm). Original light fawn cloth with extensive gilt floral decoration and attractive gilt lettering; all edges uncut; cloth very lightly marked and very slightly rubbed at the extremities, with a tiny amount of wear to the front bottom corner; vertical crease near the centre of one leaf; trifling occasional fingermarks; an excellent copy of a handsome book rarely found in anything like this condition. 'Shortly after the return of Mr Goyder's surveying expedition to Adelaide in April, 1870, my father was appointed Government Resident of the Northern Territory'; 16 year-old Harriet accompanied William Bloomfield Douglas (see ADB Volume 4) and the rest of the family north. She spent the better part of the next three years in the Territory (returning south for her marriage in 1871 to a nephew of the late Governor), before leaving for good in 1873 when her father was dismissed for incompetence. Her chatty account based on her personal experiences concludes then (at page 208); the rest of the book is written 'by means of researches in newspapers, official reports and other documents'. Significantly, this copy bears the ownership signature of John Lewis (Benacre, 1910) on the dedication page. The Honorable John Lewis (1844-1923) was an 'Explorer, bushman, drover, roughrider, pastoralist, businessman, legislator'; his father James accompanied Charles Sturt in 1844-45, and one of his sons was the industrialist Essington Lewis (ADB Volume 10). Lewis has pencilled annotations on two pages of text. The notes on the first page relate to gold crushing statistics; the second corrects a passing comment Daly makes about him in relation to a rescue party. On page 227, Daly names the leaders of the party as Messrs. Lewis and Levi; Lewis notes that 'Levi did not go on this trip but went with J. Lewis the following year' (refer to Lewis's autobiography 'Fought and Won', chapters 13 and 14 for the full details). Offered together with a fine copy of the 1984 Hesperian Press facsimile edition. $1800 [Enquire about this item] |
12. ENNIS, Henry: Remarks on board His Majesty's Ship Tamar, in a Voyage from England to Port Praia, Cape of Good Hope - New South Wales, and from thence, along the Coast of Australia, to Port Essington in the Cobourg Peninsula, and thence to Bathurst and Melville Islands, Aspley's Straits, between 27th February & the 13th of November 1824 ... South Melbourne, Richard Griffin, 1983. Quarto, [vi], 34 pages with a decorated title page and frontispiece (both are linocuts by Donald Friend). Quarter leather and cloth; a fine copy with the dustwrapper (with a short closed tear near the head of the front hinge). 'The text is printed here, for the first time in book form, pretty much as it appeared in issues 413 to 417 of The Monthly Magazine, published in London from August 1825 ... an account of the opening chapter in the history of British settlement in northern Australia', including the formal annexation. Number 54 in the edition of only 160 copies. McLaren 8002. $275 [Enquire about this item] |
13. GEORGE, F.R. and W.R. MURRAY: Journal ... of the Government Prospecting Expedition to the South-Western Portions of the Northern Territory, by F.R. George; and to the Buxton and Davenport Ranges by W.R. Murray. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1907. Foolscap folio, 24 pages plus 4 folding colour maps (515 x 445 mm, 390 x 330 mm, 270 x 335 mm and 270 x 335 mm). Titling-wrappers, stapled as issued; first leaf very slightly chipped, with the loss of a tiny piece from the bottom right-hand corner (and an even tinier piece from the corner of the second leaf); an excellent copy. Northern Territory of South Australia Parliamentary Paper Number 50 of 1907; one of only 600 copies. A very detailed account of the expedition from the Petermann and Treuer Ranges to Tanami by camel from September 1905 to September 1906; F.R. George died of illness on the expedition. McLaren 8950 and 13940. $900 [Enquire about this item] |
14. GILES, Ernest: E. Giles's Explorations, 1875-6. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1876. Folio, 16 pages plus a very large folding map ('Map showing the Routes travelled and Discoveries made by the Exploring Expeditions equipped by The Hon. Thomas Elder and under the Command of Ernest Giles between the years 1872-76'; 518 x 990 mm). Drop-title; four small holes in the left-hand margin where stab-sewn when bound (now disbound); very wide uncut leading margins slightly creased and very lightly chipped; tiny silverfish nibble to the blank leading margin of the map expertly repaired; an excellent copy. The first printing of the journal of Giles's fifth expedition, from Perth to Adelaide in 1876. The huge map is superb; it shows all the routes travelled by Giles on all his expeditions from 1872 to 1876, and 'the approximate area of Ernest Giles's discoveries' is printed in colour. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 18* of 1876. McLaren 8991. (This paper is the 'continuation of my former Journal of the 29th November, 1875', the diary of the fourth expedition, from Adelaide to Perth in 1875. However, it was first published as South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 22 of 1876, chronologically after the journal of the return journey had appeared. See McLaren 8992. Copies of these two parliamentary papers bound together sold recently at auction for $8155). $6500 [Enquire about this item] |
15. GILES, Ernest: Geographic Travels in Central Australia from 1872 to 1874. Melbourne, printed for the Author by McCarron, Bird, 1875. Octavo, [iv], 224 pages plus a large folding map (320 x 570 mm). Original blind-stamped brown cloth with the gilt 'View of Mt Olga from 60 miles West' on the front cover; corners slightly bumped (the front bottom one a little more heavily so); extremities a little rubbed, with minor wear to the corners, the ends of the spine and one spot on the front leading edge; preliminaries, last leaf and the map a little foxed; five-digit number in ink at the foot of the first page of text and a contemporary library blind-stamp impressed on one early leaf; small blank corner piece torn from one leaf (in a failed attempt to tidy up a corner that had been trimmed in production with a dogear to it); two small tears to blank margins of the map expertly closed (and with insignificant creases to a short section of one margin of the map); overall a very good copy. A presentation inscription signed by the author is written in ink at the head of the title page: 'Presented to the Hon. John Young with the best regards of the author. Adelaide, South Australia. 12th June 1877. Ernest Giles'. The book was published 'under the patronage of Ferdinand von Mueller to help Giles raise capital for further expeditions. The Melbourne volume was published mainly for presentation to those who supported his exploratory work and many copies are inscribed by von Mueller' (Wantrup) as Giles was absent on his third expedition when the book first appeared; accordingly, presentation inscriptions signed by Giles himself are rare. McLaren 8979. $3000 [Enquire about this item] |
16. GILES, Ernest: Mr Ernest Giles's Explorations, 1872. Diary of Explorations of Mr Ernest Giles in Central Australia, August to November 1872. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1875. Foolscap folio, 32 pages. Drop-title, recently bound in cloth lettered in gilt on the front cover; in fine condition, with all edges uncut as originally issued. The diary was prepared for publication by Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, as noted in his introduction (dated March 1875) to Giles's 'Geographic Travels in Central Australia from 1872 to 1874'. This first expedition account appears on pages 5-68 of that volume, with two footnotes and a lengthy endnote by von Mueller. The text is the same as that in this parliamentary paper, which has three footnotes (including the above two, albeit with some variation, including the misspelled 'Arnham's Land') and no endnote. Although the parliamentary paper has a low number, indicating it appeared earlier in the year, there is no internal evidence to give one version printing priority over the other. Giles is on record as stating that 'Many errors, both in type and grammar occur throughout the book in consequence of my not having been able to revise the proof sheets as I was absent from civilisation on my 4th expedition when it was put through the press' (see McLaren 8981 and 8979); they do not leap off the page of either version ... For what it's worth, we find this parliamentary paper version the more attractive presentation. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 21 of 1875. McLaren 8990. (A cloth-bound copy sold recently at auction for $3728; it was described as 'the first published account of Giles's first expedition'). $3000 [Enquire about this item] |
17. GOYDER, G.W. and A.H. FREELING: Northern Exploration. Letter from the Hon. the Surveyor-General [Freeling], enclosing Report from Mr G.W. Goyder, of his Expedition into the Northern Districts of the Colony. [Plus] Country adjacent to Lake Torrens. [Plus] Northern Exploration. Detailed Report, by the Honorable the Surveyor-General, of Proceedings of a Party despatched to explore the Country to the Northward. [Plus] Exploration of the North-West.... Proposal by the Assistant Surveyor-General [Goyder] to make a further Exploration of the North-West, with Report of Surveyor-General thereon. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1857. Foolscap folio, four papers, 4 pages plus a large folding map ('Sketch showing Country near Lake Torrens', 600 x 385 mm); 2 pages; 4 pages [and] 3 pages plus a large folding map ('Sketch of the Country north of Mount Remarkable', 565 x 375 mm). All items are drop-title, recently bound together in cloth lettered in gilt on the front cover; in fine condition. The first paper contains Goyder's account, dated 8 July 1857, of the waters of Lake Torrens, summarized in Freeling's preamble thus: 'The facts ascertained by Mr Goyder of the existence of permanent water, in considerable quantity, within a short distance of Lake Torrens, and of the waters of that lake being perfectly fresh, are, I conceive, of very great importance, and fully warrant the equipment of an expedition for the purpose of further exploration'. The next two papers are Freeling's accounts of his unsuccessful examination of the 'navigable possibilities' of the lake. His interim report, written 'Fifteen miles south of Lake Torrens, September 6th, 1857' states in part: 'I particularly regret to have to state that the Report of Mr Goyder, the Assistant Surveyor-General, upon the faith of which the expedition was planned, is, especially as regards the lake, very far from conveying an accurate idea of the country visited'. The final paper contains Goyder's defence of his original report, based on his visit to the region three months after unusual and very heavy rains had fallen. 'I have carefully examined the statements it contains, and feel assured that, with the single exception of the permancy of the waters of the lake, its correctness may be relied upon'. He then puts forward a detailed proposal to make further explorations into the region. Freeling objects to this: 'did I conceive any object of real advantage to the public was to be gained by such a proceeding, I should, when at the farthest northerly point reached by me, have myself continued the exploration of the country'. The detailed map accompanying this paper is important (and attractive): it shows the routes taken by Eyre, Frome, Sturt, Goyder and Freeling (with 'Mr Jacob's' short route added by hand); most of the outline of the so-called horseshoe lake is heightened in light-blue watercolour, and the land taken up for pastoral purposes is printed in light brown. 'The myth of the horseshoe was not exploded until 1858, when Augustus Charles Gregory rode through from the east, quite unimpeded, between Lake Blanche and Lake Callabonna' (Feeken, Feeken and Spate). South Australian Parliamentary Paper Numbers 72, 174, 193 and 153 of 1857-58. McLaren 9219, 8823, 8824 and 8822 (= 9220). $2500 [Enquire about this item] |
18. HACK, Stephen: Explorations by Mr. S. Hack. ... Appointment and Instructions to Mr S. Hack, and Reports, &c., by him of an Exploring Expedition into the North-Western interior. [Together with] HARRIS. W.G.: North-Western Explorations. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1857 and 1857. Foolscap folio, two papers, 11 pages plus 2 folding maps (267 x 190 mm and approximately 220 x 385 mm [printed surface]) and 2 pages plus a large folding map (510 x 715 mm). Both items are drop-title, recently bound together in cloth lettered in gilt on the front cover; in fine condition. Hack's instructions were to travel by sea to Port Lincoln, overland to Streaky Bay, then travel 'as nearly due north as the features of the country will allow ... as far as the northern boundary of this province.... Every endeavour is to be made to conciliate and win the goodwill of such natives as as may be encountered during the journey; and you are to urge upon each individual of the party the great desirability of impressing the aborigines favourably towards Europeans, by keeping good faith with them, and by not offending against their natural habits and prejudices'. The northerly route in fact commenced about 40 miles east of Streaky Bay; the return route from their furthest north was basically south-east around the bottom of Lake Gairdner to Port Augusta. The bulk of the paper comprises various progress reports from Hack during the course of the expedition (from June to September, accompanied by the two maps), plus two lengthy summary reports after the event. The second paper comprises a report from Harris, the surveyor on the expedition, and a detailed route map of the entire area covered. It includes the tracks of Warburton, who also conducted 'his first notable journey in 1857 to the dry country south and west of Lake Gairdner.... [Hack] did not follow Warburton's tracks, but rather supplemented and extended his examinations' (Feeken, Feeken and Spate). South Australian Parliamentary Paper Numbers 156 and 189 of 1857-58. McLaren 9482 and 9483. $1350 [Enquire about this item] |
19. HOGAN, J.F.: The Gladstone Colony. An Unwritten Chapter in Australian History. London, T. Fisher Unwin, 1898. Octavo, viii, 279 pages. Original light green cloth very slightly rubbed at the extremities and lightly marked; spine slightly sunned; light bumps to the top and bottom edges of the rear cover; ownership stamps on three early pages; an excellent copy. The contemporary foreword by W.E. Gladstone is illuminating: 'The period, December 1845, when I became Colonial Secretary, was one when the British Government began to feel nonplussed by the question of Transportation.... [A plan was framed] for the establishment, as an experiment, of a pure penal colony without free settlers (at least at the outset). When I came in, the plan might have been arrested in the event of disapproval, but the Government were, I think, committed, and I had only to put the last hand to the scheme. So it went on towards execution. In July 1846 the Government was changed, and Lord Grey succeeded me. He said he would make none but necessary changes in pending measures. He, however, annihilated this scheme'. The introduction is more instructive: 'For the first time a full and detailed account is given of Mr Gladstone's most interesting experiment as Colonial Secretary, namely, his attempted establishment, just fifty years ago, of a new colony called North Australia. That colony did not succeed in securing a permanent place on the map, but its intended metropolis - the site on which Mr Gladstone's pioneers settlers encamped - was successfully established and continues to bear Mr Gladstone's name to this day'. Ferguson 10491 (recording a maroon binding with variant stamping). $400 [Enquire about this item] |
20. IDRIESS, Ion: Twelve volumes in the Frontier Edition set of Idriess's works. The volumes are Lasseter's Last Ride; Gold-Dust and Ashes; One Wet Season; Man Tracks; The Wild White Man of Badu; Flynn of the Inland; The Desert Column; The Great Boomerang; Stone of Destiny; Over the Range; The Cattle King and Isles of Despair. Sydney, Angus and Robertson, [circa 1951]. Octavo, 12 volumes, each approximately 250 pages plus plates. Red cloth with printed black labels (with gilt lettering) on the front cover and the spine; some spines are a little flecked, with the black panels rubbing away a little; small erasure to the head of the half-title of one volume; overall the books are in very good condition. 'This subscription edition of selected works of Ion L. Idriess is limited to 1000 sets of which this is number 873' is printed on the verso of the half-title of 'Lasseter's Last Ride', and the author has signed the page. Apparently there are 18 volumes in the complete Frontier Edition. $400 [Enquire about this item] |
21. JONES, James W.: Report and Journal of Examination of the Country North-East of Eucla. [Adelaide, Government Printer], 1880. Foolscap folio, 9 pages plus a large folding map (555 x 705 mm). Drop-title, sewn as issued; bottom corner of the front page slightly dusty; small blank corner piece of the map slightly creased; an excellent copy. The map embraces the entire extent of the Nullarbor Plain within South Australia covering 'an area of 16,500 square miles ... [with] a complete description of the country from the coast to the route taken by Mr Ernest Giles on his exploration trip to Perth'. The journal 'gives a minutely detailed description of the country passed over ... It will be seen that this hitherto comparatively unexplored country has been thoroughly examined. I found that in many important particulars the surmises in previous reports respecting this country were not borne out'. No less interesting is the account of the discovery of the waggon and last campsite of Fairie and Woolley, who died of thirst north of Eucla two years earlier. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 191 of 1880; the quantity printed is not stated, but around 700 copies was usual (and this item is rarely encountered on the open market). McLaren 10540. $1250 [Enquire about this item] |
22. (LANDSBOROUGH, William). BOURNE, George: Journal of Landsborough's Expedition from Carpentaria in Search of Burke and Wills. Melbourne, H.T. Dwight, 1862 [first edition]. Octavo, iv, [5]-53, [3, blank] pages plus the publisher's advertisements (for Tenison Woods publications) on the inside front wrapper and both sides of the rear wrapper. Original bright yellow wrappers, all edges speckled (previously bound with other pamphlets); plain yellow paper spine expertly renewed; rear cover and terminal blanks slightly foxed (and the rear cover very lightly marked); essentially a fine copy of a very rare pamphlet. George Bourne was Landsborough's second-in-command; his account, the only independent one of the expedition, is 'quite critical of his leader' (quoting Wantrup, who also records E.M. Curr's unacknowledged involvement in editing the journal). Reading Bourne is a treat, and one feels that any help Curr provided did not extend to rewriting the text. Bourne calls a spade a spade and the ship's cook very drunk and dirty, but when it comes to the smell in the cabin, only 'a rich, indescribable, and purely nautical stench pervad[ed] the atmosphere of that marine elysium' will do. Ferguson 7303; Wantrup 176a; McLaren 5301b, 5501 and 10994. $4250 [Enquire about this item] |
23. Le HUNTE, George: Report of His Excellency the Governor on his Visit to the Northern Territory. [Adelaide, Government Printer], 1905. Folio, 15 pages plus a folding colour map showing pastoral leases (470 x 495 mm). Drop-title; pinholes and small notches in the inner margins where sewn when bound (now neatly disbound); a fine copy. Le Hunte, the Governor of South Australia, was in the Northern Territory from 4 May to 20 June 1905; this report is a detailed and hard-headed account of his wide-ranging travels, with much comment on particular pioneers and the Aborigines. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 49 of 1905; one of only 570 copies. (We have previously catalogued an edition of this item published as Commonwealth Parliamentary Paper Number 37 of 1905; 900 copies were printed. A disclaimer printed inside the front cover of that edition drew attention to the fact that the report was 'the outcome of a visit paid to the Northern Territory by His Excellency as arranged by the late Government. It did not express the views of the Government. It ought not to have been laid on the table of the House'). $500 [Enquire about this item] |
24. LEE, Ida: Early Explorers in Australia from the Log-Books and Journals. London, Methuen, 1925. Octavo, xii, 652 pages plus 35 maps and plates and a folding map in an end-pocket. Cloth; front bottom corner a little bumped; spine lightly sunned, very slightly streaked and a little rubbed and snagged at the head; a very good copy with the front panel of the dustwrapper tipped onto the front flyleaf. $300 [Enquire about this item] |
25. McRAE, Alexander: Report by Mr Alex McRae, of a Trip to the Fitzroy River, from Roebuck Bay, in the year 1866. Perth, Government Printer, 1881. Foolscap folio, 4 pages (second one blank) plus a full-page map. Titling-wrappers, neatly stapled into an early (square-cornered) manilla folder; an excellent copy. Western Australian Legislative Council Paper Number 23 of 1881. McLaren 13156. $375 [Enquire about this item] |
26. (Map). E.S. Wigg & Son's Map of South Australia. 1874. Compiled & drawn by W. Hughes, London. Published by E.S. Wigg & Son, Adelaide and G. Philip & Son, London and Liverpool. A very large folding full-colour map (printed surface 1770 x 1300 mm: external dimensions an imperial 6 by 4.5 feet), cut into 36 uniform panels, laid on linen and bound into cloth boards (315 x 230 mm, lettered 'Wigg's New Map of South Australia'). With three insets: The Adelaide and Port Darwin Telegraph Line (620 x 270 mm), Port Darwin and the County of Palmerston (460 x 345 mm) and a General Map of Australia, New Zealand ... (310 x 420 mm). Minor light stains to a few panels; the linen backing has visible tidemarks on the verso (not affecting the map); the case is slightly worn at the edges and a little dusty, marked and waterstained; overall a very good copy of a rare map in an unusual (and decidedly impractical) format. Not found in the collections listed in Tooley. $3000 [Enquire about this item] |
27. MILLER, F. and W. DUTTON: Explorations by Messrs. Miller & Dutton.... Letter from W.G. Harris, to Commissioner of Crown Lands, forwarding tracing of country adjacent to Denial and Fowler's Bays, explored by Messrs. F. Miller and W. Dutton. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1857. Foolscap folio, 1 page plus a folding map (425 x 362 mm). Drop-title; small holes in the inner margins where sewn when bound (now disbound); an excellent copy. The map is rudimentary; the cover letter is reasonably short but not without interest, containing observations such as 'The hole opened by Mr Eyre in 1840 [Miller] now says is a spring bubbling over'. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 192 of 1857. McLaren 13394. $500 [Enquire about this item] |
28. (MITCHELL, Thomas). FOSTER, William C.: Sir Thomas Livingston [sic] Mitchell and his World, 1792-1855. Surveyor General of New South Wales, 1828-1855. Sydney, Institution of Surveyors NSW, 1985. Octavo, [vi], viii, 594 pages with 8 maps and 29 illustrations. Papered boards; first and last pages lightly offset; ownership signature; an excellent copy with the dustwrapper slightly bumped at the head of the spine. $125 [Enquire about this item] |
29. MITCHELL, T.L.: Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia in Search of a Route from Sydney to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Adelaide, Friends of the State Library of South Australia, 1999 [facsimile edition]/ 1848. Octavo, [xvi], xvi (last blank), 438 pages with 11 illustrations (including the title-page vignette) plus 12 plates and 7 maps (4 folding). Gilt-decorated red cloth; a fine copy. Australiana Facsimile Editions Number 220; only 600 copies printed. The 14-page introduction by Valmai Hankel and Valerie Sitters is new to this edition. $100 [Enquire about this item] |
30. (Northern Territory). Survey of Northern Territory. Copy of Surveyor-General's Report ... [Adelaide, Government Printer], 1869. Foolscap folio, 5 pages. Drop-title; small holes in the inner margins where stab-sewn when bound (now neatly disbound); a fine copy. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 157 of 1869-70. A detailed report by George Goyder from Fort Point, Port Darwin, dated 27 September 1869: the first two pages discuss the death of Bennett (from spear wounds) and race relations generally; then follow outlines of the recently completed land survey, a description of the country and its minerals, and the natural history specimens despatched to Adelaide. Important and rare. $600 [Enquire about this item] |
31. (Northern Territory). Tenders for Survey, Northern Territory.... Copies of all Correspondence not already before the House, referring to the Survey of the Northern Territory Lands, between the Government, and Mr Gregory, the Surveyor-General of Queensland, and other persons, who may have tendered or made propositions for the survey, since the return of Mr McKinlay from the Northern Territory. [Adelaide, Government Printer], 1868. Foolscap folio, 12 pages. Drop-title; small holes in the inner margins where stab-sewn when bound (now neatly disbound); uncut bottom edges very slightly chipped, with a very small light stain to one bottom margin; an excellent copy. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 81 of 1868. $600 [Enquire about this item] |
32. Northern Territory Correspondence. [Adelaide, Government Printer], 1865. Foolscap folio, 4 pages. Drop-title; small holes in the inner margins where stab-sewn when bound (now neatly disbound); a fine copy. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 79A of 1868. The correspondence ranges in dates from 13 February 1864 to 4 September 1868; it includes good contributions by Francis Cadell (a half-page interim report on his expedition) and John Robertson, business partner of the explorer J.G. Macdonald (a half-page detailing their exploits in the Gulf of Carpentaria and outlining their proposal for the Northern Territory survey). McLaren 6907 (under Cadell, but not under Macdonald). $300 [Enquire about this item] |
33. The Northern Territory for the Farmer and Stock Raiser. Issued under the Authority of the Hon. Patrick McMahon Glynn MP, Minister of State for External Affairs. [Cover title: What the Northern Territory offers the Farmer and Stock Raiser]. Melbourne, McCarron, Bird ..., Printers, [1913?]. Oblong octavo, 48 pages with 30 plates. Wrappers; a very fine copy of a rare pamphlet. $250 [Enquire about this item] |
34. PARSONS, Honorable J. Langdon: The Northern Territory of South Australia. A Brief Historical Account: Pastoral and Mineral Resources. [Plus] HOLTZE, Maurice W.: The Capabilities of the Northern Territory for Tropical Agriculture. Adelaide, W.K. Thomas, 1901. Octavo, [ii], 27 pages plus 10 plates and a large folding map (865 x 490 mm). Original wrappers; a very fine copy. Parsons (17 pages), Holtze (5 pages) plus two appendices: Extracts from the Report of the Curator of the Botanic Gardens, Palmerston for 1888 (4 pages) and 1898 (2 pages). $350 [Enquire about this item] |
35. (Photography). BEADELL, Len: An original colour photograph on which the pictorial dustwrapper of Beadell's 'Still in the Bush' (published by Rigby in Adelaide in 1975) is based. The photograph came from the collection of Fred Klix (Art Director of Rigby Limited, circa 1965-75) so it is probably the original print used for the artwork. The photograph by Beadell is a colour coupler print in fine condition, archivally mounted, with the visible surface 130 x 190 mm (image size 135 x 195 mm). It is offered together with a fine dustwrappered copy of the book, where full details of the events surrounding the taking of this photograph are given in Chapter 2. A short extract will suffice: '[Lolly, or Lourly, was] completely covered by a heavy thatch of hair eight centimetres long. His face merged into his neck with no line of demarcation, and hair covered his shoulders, chest, arms, and legs. An extraordinary feature about him was that the top of his head was almost bald, and the dense mat of hair started just below the crest of his skull.... thankfully, these rare photographs came out perfectly, months later'. (For what it's worth, the rest of the book deals with the gathering of accurate survey information of the whole of the range line north-west across Australia from the Woomera Rocket Range). $750 [Enquire about this item] |
36. (Photography). Three albumen paper photographs (each approximately 150 x 200 mm, on original cardboard mounts, 240 x 300 mm) captioned in ink on the verso of each mount 'Palmerston, Port Darwin, NT, destroyed by Tornado, December, 1896', along with the initials FEB. A search through the directory of photographers in 'The Mechanical Eye in Australia. Photography 1841-1900' does not yield results, and although one of the images is held in the State Library of South Australia, the photographer remains anonymous. However, the use of the term 'Tornado' suggests a traveller passing through. Specific details are pencilled onto the verso of each mount, namely 'P.R. Allen's Store', 'Rundle's Store' and 'Bennett Street' (the last mentioned is held in the SLSA, dated 1897). Interestingly, the well-exposed interior of Allen's store shows another photographer at work! The mounts are a little marked and chipped, one print is a little weak on contrast, but overall the condition is very good. $1100 [Enquire about this item] |
37. RICHARDSON, A.R.: Early Memories of the Great Nor-West and a Chapter in History of WA. Perth, Wigg, 1914. Octavo, 122 pages. Original blue cloth (gilt-decorated and blind-stamped); spine sunned, rear cover a little mottled; edges and first and last leaves a little foxed; an excellent copy (and difficult to find in this - or better - condition). From the author's preface: 'of those who took a hand in the eventful work of subduing the wild and native conditions prevailing over that large territory ... there now remains but a little band'. This copy is inscribed by the author; with the pencilled ownership initials of Tom Austen Brown. $500 [Enquire about this item] |
38. RICHARDSON, Norman A.: The Pioneers of the North-West of South Australia, 1856 to 1914. Adelaide, Thomas, 1925. Octavo, [xii], 155 pages with numerous plates and a folding map (325 x 285 mm). Original wrappers very slightly creased, marked and sunned; first (blank) leaf slightly marked and creased; an excellent copy. Inscribed, signed and dated (7 December 1926) by the author. $450 [Enquire about this item] |
39. SEARCY, Alfred: By Flood and Field. Adventures ashore and afloat in North Australia. Melbourne, George Robertson, [1911]. Octavo, 327 pages plus 18 plates and a folding map. Gilt-decorated cloth; one pinhole in each cover and about 40 leaves, 2 plates and the map (which is also a little creased); contents leaf slightly finger-marked and a little discoloured near the bottom edge; flyleaves discoloured (with a contemporary critical comment in pencil on the front one); a very good copy. $110 [Enquire about this item] |
40. SOWDEN, William J.: The Northern Territory as it is. A Narrative of the South Australian Parliamentary Party's Trip, and Full Descriptions of the Northern Territory; its Settlements and Industries. With an Appendix, containing Reports on the General Resources of the Territory by Professor Tate ... Adelaide, Thomas, 1882. Octavo, [iv], 192, [6, advertisements] pages. Original purple cloth faded to blue on the spine and most of the front cover; slight wear to the extremities; an excellent copy. $250 [Enquire about this item] |
41. SPENCER, Sir Baldwin and F.J. GILLEN: The Arunta. A Study of a Stone Age People. London, Macmillan, 1927. Octavo, two volumes, xxviii, 390 and xvi, 391-646 pages with a map and approximately 85 illustrations plus approximately 250 plates, 4 colour plates (3 double-page, one folding with an overlay key) and a folding map. Olive-green cloth, top edges gilt (the superior primary binding); flyleaves a little offset as ever; one front bottom corner slightly bumped; essentially a fine set. McLaren 15108. $1500 [Enquire about this item] |
42. (STOKES, John Lort). HORDERN, Marsden: Mariners are Warned! John Lort Stokes and HMS Beagle in Australia, 1837-1843. Carlton, Melbourne University Press, 1989. Octavo, xxiv, 359 pages with 9 illustrations and 9 maps plus 43 plates (4 in colour) and 7 folding maps in an end-pocket. Cloth; small printed ownership sticker at the head of the front flyleaf; a fine copy with the lightly creased dustwrapper. Signed by the author on the title page. Number 4 in the Miegunyah Press Series. McLaren 15299. $110 [Enquire about this item] |
43. STUART, John McDouall: Fourth Expedition Journal, March to September 1860. Adelaide, Sullivan's Cove, 1983. Quarto, 92 pages. Cloth; a fine copy with the fine dustwrapper. The first intended transcontinental expedition; Central Mount Sturt [Stuart], the geographical centre of Australia was climbed and named on 23 April 1860, but insurmountable problems caused the party to turn back two months later, near the Tennant Creek area. From the original manuscript; the first separate edition in book form, limited to only 220 copies. McLaren 15447. $165 [Enquire about this item] |
44. STURT, Charles: Four Letters from Charles Sturt on a Proposed Exploration of the Australian Continent, addressed to Lord Stanley during 1843 & 1844. Transcribed from the originals, with additions. Adelaide, Sullivan's Cove, 1988. Duodecimo, 70 pages plus a frontispiece. Cloth; a fine copy with the fine dustwrapper. One of only 135 numbered copies. Not in McLaren (although published in the last year for inclusion). $110 [Enquire about this item] |
45. STURT, Charles: The Mount Bryan Expedition, 1839. Adelaide, Sullivan's Cove, 1982. Folio, 91 pages plus a colour frontispiece. Gilt-decorated cloth; a fine copy (without a dustwrapper, as issued). 'Sturt's account of his expedition with Gawler, from Lake Alexandrina up the Murray and overland to Mount Bryan, together with the expedition accounts of Gawler, Julia Gawler and the servant girl Eliza Arbuckle.' From the unpublished journals; one of only 175 numbered copies. McLaren 15577. $225 [Enquire about this item] |
46. (STURT, Charles). STURT, Mrs Napier George: Life of Charles Sturt, sometime Capt. 39th Regt. and Australian Explorer. London, Smith, Elder, 1899. Octavo, xviii, 395, [4, catalogue] pages plus 2 plates and 5 maps (4 folding). Cloth very lightly marked, rubbed and flecked; offsetting to the flyleaves; trifling marginal chips to the leading edges of two adjacent leaves due to inexpert opening of uncut edges; an excellent copy. With the ownership signature of John Lewis (Benacre, 30 September 1915) on the half-title and the pictorial bookplate (by Marigold Melrose) of his married daughter, Jane Melrose. The Honorable John Lewis (1844-1923) was an 'Explorer, bushman, drover, roughrider, pastoralist, businessman, legislator'; his father James accompanied Charles Sturt in 1844-45, and one of his sons was the industrialist Essington Lewis (ADB Volume 10). McLaren 15636. $600 [Enquire about this item] |
47. TODD, Charles: Adelaide and Port Darwin Telegraph. Report by C. Todd ... on the Construction and Completion ... Adelaide, Government Printer, 1873. Foolscap folio, 7 pages. Drop-title; small holes in the inner margins where sewn when bound (now disbound); an excellent copy. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 29 of 1873. An 'official and emphatic denial' of statements disparaging the stability of the line. 'I have, therefore, drawn up a brief report on the whole of the line ... Having personally inspected the line from Daly Waters southwards in the course of my overland journey, as well as portions of the line at Port Darwin and Southport, I am able to speak from personal knowledge'. McLaren 16107. $330 [Enquire about this item] |
48. WARBURTON, Colonel Peter Egerton: Journey across the Western Interior of Australia. With an Introduction and Additions by Charles H. Eden ... Edited by H.W. Bates. London, Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, 1875. Octavo, xii, 308, 40 (publishers' catalogue) pages with a title page vignette illustration plus 9 plates and a large folding hand-coloured map (260 x 805 mm). Original gilt- and black-pictorial dark green cloth slightly rubbed at the extremities, and very lightly marked and flecked; occasional light scattered foxing; very short closed tear near the stub of the map; an excellent copy with the armorial bookplate of Richard Henry Tidswell on the pastedown and the much later (pedestrian) bookplate of Arthur Collett on the verso of the flyleaf. Peter Egerton Warburton (1813-1889) left Alice Springs for Western Australia in April 1873 with six men and seventeen camels. The party 'endured long periods of extreme heat with little water, and survived only by killing the camels for meat. They reached the Oakover River with Warburton strapped to a camel. On 11 January 1874 ... [they reached] de Grey station in northern Western Australia. They had conquered the formidable Great Sandy Desert to become the first to cross the continent from the centre to the west. Warburton was emaciated and blind in one eye; at a public banquet in Adelaide later he attributed their survival to his Aboriginal companion Charley' (ABD Volume 6). McLaren 16473. $2850 [Enquire about this item] |
49. Western Australia. Settlers' Handy Pamphlet. Containing General Information useful to New and Old Settlers relative to Ring-barking, Clearing, Ploughing, Dry Farming ... [Perth, Government Printer], 1914. Octavo, xxxviii (mainly advertisements), [5]-194 (last blank), xxxix-xlvi (advertisements) pages with numerous illustrations. Pictorial wrappers slightly rubbed at the extremities, split a little at the foot of the front hinge and with a small chip to the rear leading edge; staples rusty, slightly staining the rear wrapper; edges lightly foxed; a very good copy. $125 [Enquire about this item] |
50. WILLIAMS, R.M.: The Bushman's Handcrafts. Prospect, The Author, 1950 [first edition]. Octavo, 129 pages with numerous illustrations and a few decorations (printed in red). Full leather (a thick piece of cowhide laid down over papered boards) printed on the front cover in white and ruled in blind around all edges; leather very slightly rubbed and scuffed; light vertical creases to two preliminaries; early ownership details; an excellent copy. This has the appearance of a 'deluxe' version, with the leather mounted over the covers of the 'trade' edition (and overlapping them). $250 [Enquire about this item] |