Recent Acquisitions List 106B |
1. ANGAS, George French: South Australia Illustrated. London, Thomas M'Lean, 1847. Imperial folio, [12] pages, comprising a superb hand-coloured pictorial lithographic title page dated 1846 (verso blank); letterpress title page dated 1847 (verso blank); lithographic dedication (verso blank); Preface; 'General Remarks on the Aboriginal Inhabitants of South Australia' (3 pages); 'Subscribers to South Australia Illustrated' (2 pages, with 243 copies accounted for) plus 60 hand-coloured lithographs, each with accompanying descriptive letterpress (usually one leaf, occasionally more). Contemporary half calf and cloth; leather slightly rubbed, cloth lightly marked; contents expertly recased (and now sewn, replacing the perished and unstable gutta percha), with sympathetic new endpapers; a short tear to the bottom margin of two plates and the leading margin of one leaf of text expertly repaired; oblong plate 7 has its left-hand blank margin reinforced and some discolouration to the sky; plate 51 and its leaf of text have minor loss to the bottom outside corner neatly restored; light tidemarks to the (mainly bottom) edge of 13 plates, with a little foxing to (mainly) the margins of some plates; notwithstanding these few signs of age and use, a very good copy. 'I have endeavoured, by pictorial representation, to describe the most interesting and peculiar features of South Australia and its Aboriginal inhabitants. I have devoted my time and powers entirely to the accomplishment of this task, visiting all portions of the Colony, and making myself conversant with the manners and habits of native tribes, whose existence is unknown to the world' (the author's preface). A modern commentator has this to say: '"South Australia Illustrated" is without question Angas's greatest and most accomplished work. His views of towns and scenery, of the Aborigines and of the flora and fauna offer an outstanding - if romantic - interpretation of the Australian landscape. It is a rare book ... and one which has always been held in the highest esteem. It must be considered one of the fundamental works in any collection of Australian plate books and no collection can be considered complete without it' (Wantrup). The Aboriginal content is indeed considerable and significant: 22 of the 60 plates (and the accompanying leaves of text) are devoted exclusively to the State's Aborigines. There are numerous portraits (usually four or more to a page), plus groups of artefacts and scenes of daily life from different areas of South Australia. Aborigines are depicted in a further five plates and on the pictorial title page. Ferguson 4458. This copy is definitely priced to sell ... $17500 [Enquire about this item] |
2. HANSON, Richard Davies: Law in Nature and other papers, read before the Adelaide Philosophical Society and the South Australian Institute. Adelaide, Rigby, 1865. Octavo, viii, 95 pages. Wrappers laid down on card, as issued (with the front wrapper slightly creased where laid down carelessly); spine chipped with slight loss; hinges cracked but firm; trifling silverfish nibbling to the leading edges; an excellent copy. The author was Chief Justice of South Australia. Ferguson 10219 (not describing the binding). $400 [Enquire about this item] |
3. HANSON, Richard Davies: Law in Nature and other papers, read before the Adelaide Philosophical Society and the South Australian Institute. Adelaide, Rigby, 1864. Octavo, vi, 76 pages. Flush-cut wrappers (with the title page details repeated on the front cover) laid down on card, as issued; covers a little marked and silverfish-nibbled (mainly to the rear), with a light crease down the centre of the front one; most of the plain paper spine chipped away; a few trifling corner creases; a very good copy. The early ownership signature of Ja[me]s Hosking is on the front cover, with the index in pencil (in his hand?) on the inside rear cover; the small ownership stamp of Arthur W. Piper is on the verso of the front cover. Arthur William Piper (1865-1936) was a South Australian Supreme Court judge. The author was Chief Justice of South Australia. Ferguson 10217. $350 [Enquire about this item] |
4. HARCUS, William: South Australia. Its History, Resources, and Productions. London, Sampson Low ..., 1876. Octavo, xvi, 432 pages plus 66 engraved plates, a folding table and 2 folding maps bound in towards the rear (South Australia, 795 x 545 mm and Australia, 320 x 400 mm). Original quarter brown cloth and papered boards slightly bumped at the corners; the small amount of cloth on the two covers is a little flecked; first and last pages discoloured by the acidic endpapers; leaves near the folding maps a little creased by the bulk of the folded paper; a tiny tear near the stub of each map expertly repaired; an excellent copy. An undervalued work - the plates, wood engravings from photographs, are a major pictorial record, and there are two supplementary chapters on the Northern Territory and Central Australia. 'In the chapter on the Northen Territory, I have incorporated some useful papers written by residents there, and prepared for publication by Mr J.G. Knight'. The chapter on Central Australia is even more important: 'Since the foregoing was in type, the following interesting and well-written account of Central Australia, along the line of telegraph, has appeared in the "Register". The writer, Mr J.A. Giles, is well acquainted with the whole of the country which he describes. It is the best and most trust-worthy account of Central Australia which has yet been published'. The entire chapter is devoted to the article, which refers on occasion (and thus eliminates any misattribution) to Alfred Giles, the explorer with strong telegraph line credentials. Ferguson 10233 (not recording the maps or this quarter cloth binding. Copies in full cloth are also in stock - please enquire). $400 [Enquire about this item] |
5. HARRISON, Robert: Colonial Sketches: or, Five Years in South Australia, with Hints to Capitalists and Emigrants. London, Hall, Virtue, 1862. Octavo, viii, 167 pages. Original blind-stamped dark green cloth very lightly marked and slightly rubbed and bumped at the extremities; front inner hinge expertly reinforced; recto of the front flyleaf a little foxed; an excellent copy. 'I was offered some time before leaving South Australia, strong inducements to write a history of that virtuous territory which should be palatable to certain classes of a small community; but as I had no high opinion of either the colony or the principles on which it was founded, or its subsequent career, I could not be the partisan, at any price, of a locality which I could not conscientiously recommend as a suitable field of emigration for any class of my fellow-country-men.' Nothing is sacred; it is perhaps hardly surprising to learn that 'every copy available was purchased and destroyed by the Angas family' (Ferguson 10265, citing the Petherick copy in the National Library copy). $750 [Enquire about this item] |
6. HAWKER, James C.: Early Experiences in South Australia. Adelaide, Wigg, 1899. Octavo, 84 pages plus a frontispiece portrait. Dark brown cloth; endpapers offset; a very fine copy. The author's memoirs, dating back to 1838, first appeared as a series of articles in 'The South Australian Register' and 'The Adelaide Observer'. Loosely inserted is an original cutting from the 'Register' of 22 July 1899, containing the last article in the book (where it is #26, not #25 as in the cutting). An utterly rare second series was published in 1901. Ferguson 10297 (noting only black cloth; we have seen various colours). $350 [Enquire about this item] |
7. [HAY, Mrs Agnes Grant]: Footprints. A Memoir of the late Alexander Hay, one of the fathers and early colonists of South Australia, by his widow. London, Elliot Stock, 1899. Octavo, xvi, 132 pages plus 14 plates. Half contrasting blue and cream cloth, top edge gilt, others uncut; cloth a little rubbed and bumped at the extremities, and a little bubbled and slightly marked on the front and rear covers; spine a little sunned; new endpapers; a very good copy. Alexander Hay (1820-1898), merchant, pastoralist and politician, arrived in the colony in 1839. 'The book contains interesting reminiscences of South Australia in early pioneering days, also of Hay's political career' (Ferguson 10306, not noting the plates, but mentioning an errata slip no longer present in this copy). $250 [Enquire about this item] |
8. HEYNE, E.B.: The Amateur Gardener. Fourth edition (greatly enlarged) of The Fruit, Flower, and Vegetable Garden. Adelaide, Sherring, 1886. Duodecimo, [x], 210, 16 (advertisements) pages with a few decorations, 6 illustrations and a double-page plan of a 'gentleman's garden' plus a large folding sheet (305 x 375 mm) containing 23 lithographic illustrations mounted on the rear pastedown and an advertisement on the outside rear cover. Papered boards a little rubbed and slightly worn at the extremities; some of the paper on the spine has been chipped away (not affecting the lettering) exposing the cloth spine underneath; covers a little marked, with a few inkstains on the front panel; title-flyleaf offset; short split to the large folding sheet neatly repaired; a very good copy. Ferguson 10399 (not noting any of the illustrations or plates, and the front cover titling details are a different and reset version of those on the title page). In our experience, copies of this edition frequently lack the folding sheet of illustrations. $550 [Enquire about this item] |
9. HITCHCOX, W.: South Australia. Its Early History, its Climate and a few Particulars of its Products and Capabilities.... Written specially for transmission to England. Adelaide, E.S. Wigg & Son, [1900]. Octavo, 61 pages plus a frontispiece portrait and 9 plates. Decorated flush-cut red papered boards; spine lightly sunned, with trifling loss to the head and foot; an excellent copy. The author's aim in writing this book for prospective immigrants is to 'give them the benefit of my own experience of a country in which the greater part of my life has been spent'. He arrived in Adelaide in 1851, aged 30, and spent his entire life at Glenelg. Loosely inserted is a small piece of paper signed with the author's compliments. Ferguson 10449 (but less detailed than our record). $300 [Enquire about this item] |
10. HODDER, Edwin: The History of South Australia from its Foundation to the Year of its Jubilee. With a Chronological Summary of all the Principal Events of Interest up to date. London, Sampson Low, Marston, 1893. Octavo, two volumes, xii, 391 and viii, 400 pages plus a large folding map (850 x 590 mm) in the endpocket of Volume 1 and a folding diagram in the endpocket of Volume 2. Original maroon cloth (the primary binding) lightly flecked, with the spines very lightly sunned; the rear cover of Volume 2 is a little marked and spotted; uncut edges a little tanned; outer surfaces of the items in the endpockets in contact with the cover materials are a little browned; a very good set. Ferguson 10474. The useful chronology extends over 228 pages. Both volumes are inscribed and signed to 'Dr E.J. Eitel with J.H. Angas's kind regards. Adelaide 23rd [May] 1899' on the verso of the flyleaf; the later namestamp of Edward H. Bleby is on each title page. By way of explaining the inscription by one of the sons of George Fife Angas, consider the Australian Dictionary of Biography entry on Henry Hussey: 'Hussey's printing and publishing encouraged him to literary endeavours and in 1862 his entry in the Gawler Institute competition for a history of South Australia won the prize. To compile this work he had access to government archives and to the private papers of G.F. Angas. Through this introduction and possibly some mutual religious sympathies, Hussey became Angas's secretary in 1865. Angas later acquired Hussey's manuscript and with help from the Angas family it was edited in England by Edwin Hodder and published in 1893.... After Angas died in 1879 Hussey was authorized to gather material for his biography which was also edited by Hodder and published in England in 1891. Hussey's autobiography refers to many diaries and private papers of Angas which do not seem to have survived'. $300 [Enquire about this item] |
11. [HUGO, William Marks]: History of the First Bushmen's Club in the Australian Colonies, established at Adelaide, South Australia. Compiled from various sources, and furnishing in detail its origin and progress up to the present year, 1872; also miscellaneous readings, letters, etc. Adelaide, 'published by Superintendent of Club', 1872. Octavo, viii, [9]-408 pages (the last 8 being advertisements) plus 2 frontispiece lithographs ('Present Bushmen's Home' and 'Proposed Bushmen's Home'). Original? half leather and marbled papered boards; leather rubbed at the extremities and slightly worn at the corners, with the head of the (slightly sunned) spine expertly restored; marbled paper a little rubbed and chipped; endpapers discoloured around the edges by the leather turn-ins; a very good copy (internally fine). Inscribed in ink on the flyleaf to 'Robert Kyffin Thomas / From his Father / May, 1873'. Father was William Kyffin Thomas (1821-78), a pioneer of 1836, newspaper proprietor and printer (the firm produced this book). 'Register Office' is printed at the foot of the leather spine. Ferguson 10643 (noting 'blue morocco cloth boards'). 'By 1866 a ravaging northern drought accelerated the need to succour bush workers, who were often victims of their own excesses and were preyed upon between jobs. Hugo pressed for a "bushmen's home", like a seamen's home, as a quiet, sober refuge. Opposition came from those who saw it as a squatters' movement, but his canvassing, bushmen's subscriptions and philanthropic support enabled the home to open in Whitmore Square, Adelaide, in May 1870' (Australian Dictionary of Biography). $750 [Enquire about this item] |
12. [HUGO, William Marks]: History of the First Bushmen's Club in the Australian Colonies, established at Adelaide, South Australia. Compiled from various sources, and furnishing in detail its origin and progress up to the present year, 1872; also miscellaneous readings, letters, etc. Adelaide, 'published by Superintendent of Club', 1872. Octavo, viii, [9]-408 pages (the last 8 being advertisements) plus 2 frontispiece lithographs ('Present Bushmen's Home' and 'Proposed Bushmen's Home'). Original flush-cut dark green cloth with the short title in gilt on the front cover; cloth lightly marked and rubbed at the extremities, with slight wear in a couple of places; spine a little sunned; inner hinges cracked but firm; endpapers a little marked, with some scuffing and silverfish damage to the front flyleaf; small stain to the bottom edge, bleeding very slightly into some bottom margins; very occasional foxing; three smallish areas on pages 167-70 lost to silverfish, with two patches affecting some 25 words of text (now supplied on an insert); a very good copy. With the armorial bookplate of P. Curzon Clement on the pastedown; the bookplate is listed in Peake (Australian Personal Bookplates), with John Shirlow recorded as the artist. A January 1879 note in pencil on the flyleaf gives some details of the anonymous author, a cousin of the somewhat more famous Victor. Ferguson 10643 (recording only 'blue morocco cloth boards'). 'By 1866 a ravaging northern drought accelerated the need to succour bush workers, who were often victims of their own excesses and were preyed upon between jobs. Hugo pressed for a "bushmen's home", like a seamen's home, as a quiet, sober refuge. Opposition came from those who saw it as a squatters' movement, but his canvassing, bushmen's subscriptions and philanthropic support enabled the home to open in Whitmore Square, Adelaide, in May 1870' (Australian Dictionary of Biography). $550 [Enquire about this item] |
13. HUSSEY, H.: The Australian Colonies. Together with Notes of a Voyage from Australia to Panama in the 'Golden Age', Descriptions of Tahiti and other Islands in the Pacific, and a Tour through some of the States of America, in 1854. London, Blackburn and Burt, and Adelaide, E.S. Wigg, [1855]. Duodecimo, vi, 174 pages. Original blind-stamped closely-woven brown cloth slightly rubbed and bumped at the extremities, with minimal wear to the head of the front hinge and one bottom corner; front flyleaf very lightly creased and marked; an excellent copy, uncut and partially unopened, with occasional chipping to the top edges due to inexpert opening. The contemporary ownership details of E. Barlow, Adelaide are written in ink on the front pastedown. Henry Hussey (1825-1903) arrived in South Australia in 1839, so he was barely 30 when this book was published. The 22 (of 36) pages on the Australian colonies devoted to his home state are based on personal experience. Ferguson 10702: 'The title adequately describes the other stages of his journey. American conditions in several states are noticed'. $500 [Enquire about this item] |
14. HUSSEY, H.: The Australian Colonies. Together with Notes of a Voyage from Australia to Panama in the 'Golden Age', Descriptions of Tahiti and other Islands in the Pacific, and a Tour through some of the States of America, in 1854. London, Blackburn and Burt, and Adelaide, E.S. Wigg, [1855]. Duodecimo, vi, 174 pages. Original light green flush-cut stiffened wrappers with the title page details repeated within a border on the front cover; wrappers very slightly rubbed, with minimal wear to the ends of the spine; a fine copy. 'Presented to Selina Haynes on her removal to Port Victor, By H. Hussey. August 10, 1877' is written in ink on the flyleaf by the author some 22 years after the book was published (when he was barely 30). Henry Hussey (1825-1903) arrived in South Australia in 1839, so the 22 (of 36) pages on the Australian colonies devoted to his home state are based on personal experience. Ferguson 10702 (not recording this edition in wrappers): 'The title adequately describes the other stages of his journey. American conditions in several states are noticed'. $750 [Enquire about this item] |
15. HUSSEY, H.: More than Half a Century of Colonial Life and Christian Experience. With Notes of Travel, Lectures, Publications, etc. Adelaide, Hussey & Gillingham, 1897. Octavo, [viii], 504 pages with 13 illustrations and numerous head- and tail-pieces plus a frontispiece portrait. Original gilt-decorated tan cloth lightly marked and sunned on the spine, and lightly flecked front and rear; endpapers lightly offset; an excellent copy. 'Presented to The South Australian Company, Adelaide, With the Author's compts' is written in ink on the flyleaf. Henry Hussey (1825-1903), 'evangelist, millenarian, printer and historian,' arrived in South Australia in 1839, and by 1850 was established as a printer. He later became a successful publisher and bookseller, so his autobiography is, not least, an account of printing in colonial Adelaide. He was George Fife Angas's secretary from 1865, and compiled his biography, which was edited by Edwin Hodder and published in 1891 under the latter's name (as was the 1893 two-volume 'History of South Australia'). 'Hussey's achievements in history and biography, though somewhat filtered, were more enduring than his adventism, though his evangelical career was long and enthusiastic' and the work highlights 'the remarkable religious climate in South Australia in the nineteenth century'. If put off by the title, read Gerald Fischer's engaging account of Hussey in the Australian Dictionary of Biography first - it may change your mind. (Bibliographers may be interested to learn that we have identified slight variations in copies. This copy, with the author's inscription, is overall 190 mm high, with the publisher's name in very small serif type, with both large and small capitals on the first line. We have also handled a copy with a later [1918] inscription by the author's nephew; it was 194 mm tall, with the publisher's name in sans serif type, with all letters of uniform size. Both copies contained the binder's label of Hussey & Gillingham, so presumably this is the sort of thing that can be done when the family firm prints, binds and publishes your autobiography). $400 [Enquire about this item] |
16. JAMES, T. Horton: Six Months in South Australia; with Some Account of Port Philip [sic] and Portland Bay, in Australia Felix; with Advice to Emigrants; to which is added a Monthly Calendar of Gardening and Agriculture. Adapted to the Climate and Seasons. London, J. Cross, 1838. Octavo, vi, [ii, errata, verso blank], 208, [4], 209-296 (last page blank), [4, publisher's advertisements] pages plus a small (one page) plan of Victor Harbor and a folding frontispiece map of the Port Lincoln district (201 x 243 mm); both maps are dated January 1839. Original blind-patterned green cloth titled in gilt 'James's South Australia, Port Philip [sic], and Australia Felix. 1839' on the front cover; cloth very lightly marked and slightly rubbed at the extremities, with minimal wear to the corners and the foot of the (slightly sunned) spine; endpapers and the folding map offset and a little foxed, with occasional foxing elsewhere; a very good copy, uncut and with 30 leaves unopened. The small label of 'Henry Hooper, Bookseller, 13 Pall Mall East' is on the front pastedown. Ferguson 2525 (not noting the four-page insert or the small map); McLaren 10400 (basically copying Ferguson). The unnumbered four-page postscript after page 208 provides a summary of Adelaide newspapers 'received up to the 14th July'; in it, mention is made of Eyre's overlanding expedition from Port Phillip to Adelaide in 1838, during which he discovered and named Lake Hindmarsh. In the lengthy appendix, James 'prints the journals of several private expeditions undertaken in the early years of settlement, including an account of Hawdon's famous overlanding expedition as well as other expeditions to Encounter Bay, Lake Alexandrina and to the River Murray' (Wantrup). The 30-page 'Manual of Gardening', almost certainly compiled by the author, is engagingly specific: 'those lofty whirlwinds, so peculiar to the Plains of Cowandilla'; 'this province must become, some day or other, a wine country' and then refers the reader to Busby ... The flyleaf is signed 'Wm Molesworth', and legibly offset onto it is his armorial bookplate (no longer present in fact); on the rear pastedown is a light pencil sketch of a male head and shoulders; the list of errata has two extras added in pencil - all in all, a wonderful provenance. Sir William Molesworth (1810-55), the British politician, was 'returned as member of East Cornwall (December 1832) in the first reformed parliament.... [H]is especial province was colonial policy. He obtained a committee to inquire into the system of transportation in 1837, and wrote the report. He continued to attack the system, and contributed to its ultimate abandonment. In his colonial policy he accepted the theories of Edward Gibbon Wakefield ... He supported all measures for colonial self-government, and protested with his party against the coercive measures adopted by the whig ministry during the Canadian troubles, after championing Lord Durham's policy' (DNB). If his portrait attached to his entry in Wikipedia is anything to go by, the sketch in this copy may well be a self-portrait. $2500 [Enquire about this item] |
17. JAMES, T. Horton: Six Months in South Australia; with Some Account of Port Philip [sic] and Portland Bay, in Australia Felix; with Advice to Emigrants; to which is added a Monthly Calendar of Gardening and Agriculture. Adapted to the Climate and Seasons. London, J. Cross, 1838. Octavo, vi, [ii, errata, verso blank], 208, [4], 209-296 (last page blank), [4, publisher's advertisements] pages plus a small (one page) plan of Victor Harbor and a folding frontispiece map of the Port Lincoln district (201 x 243 mm); both maps are dated January 1839. Original blind-patterned green cloth titled in gilt 'James's South Australia, Port Philip [sic], and Australia Felix. 1839' on the front cover; covers a little rubbed and bumped, and with minimal wear, at the extremities; spine a little sunned; front endpaper very slightly foxed and marked; both maps mildly offset; a very good uncut copy (internally it is essentially fine). Ferguson 2525 (not noting the four-page insert or the small map); McLaren 10400 (basically copying Ferguson). The unnumbered four-page postscript after page 208 provides a summary of Adelaide newspapers 'received up to the 14th July'; in it, mention is made of Eyre's overlanding expedition from Port Phillip to Adelaide in 1838, during which he discovered and named Lake Hindmarsh. In the lengthy appendix, James 'prints the journals of several private expeditions undertaken in the early years of settlement, including an account of Hawdon's famous overlanding expedition as well as other expeditions to Encounter Bay, Lake Alexandrina and to the River Murray' (Wantrup). The 30-page 'Manual of Gardening', almost certainly compiled by the author, is engagingly specific: 'those lofty whirlwinds, so peculiar to the Plains of Cowandilla'; 'this province must become, some day or other, a wine country' and then refers the reader to Busby ... The small contemporary inkstamp of the South Australian Company appears on the front pastedown and the title page - a most pleasing association. $1500 [Enquire about this item] |
18. [JOHNS, Fred]: The 'Register' Guide to the Parliament of South Australia 1887. (With Portraits). Adelaide, W.K. Thomas & Co., Printers, 1887. Small quarto, 42, [6, advertisements] pages with 5 portrait illustrations. Slate-grey wrappers with the title page details repeated within a border on the front cover; expert restoration to minor silverfish damage to the top edge of the front cover; paper in contact with the covers is slightly discoloured; an excellent copy. Ferguson 10949a (supplying the identity of the author, and noting only brown paper wrappers). A June 1887 newspaper review of the item is mounted on the verso of the title page; although not identifying the author, among other pleasantries it states that 'Of the many good ideas which will mark the jubilee year in our colony the first publication of a Parliamentary Guide is not the least excellent'. Two other contemporary newspaper cuttings containing local political biographies are present; one is mounted inside the front cover, the other is loosely inserted. The portraits are of Sir Henry Ayers, Hon. David Murray, Sir R.D. Ross, Sir J.W. Downer and Hon. J.C. Bray. Fred Johns (1868-1934) worked for the 'Register' from 1885 for thirty years; in 1906 he 'compiled and published a biographical dictionary that was to become a national institution, Johns's Notable Australians', the forerunner of today's 'Who's Who in Australia' (Australian Dictionary of Biography). $650 [Enquire about this item] |
19. [JOHNSTON, Captain E.N.]: Captain Johnston's Report of the General Scheme for the Improvement of the River Murray; together with Plans and Estimates. [Bound together with] Report on Improvements in the Vicinity of the Mouth of the River Murray, South Australia. Adelaide, R.E.E. Rogers, Government Printer, 1912 [and] 1913. Foolscap folio, 66 pages plus a folding chart, 3 large folding plans or charts (describing a typical plan of a lock and weir, and charting the effects of certain reservoirs on navigation) and a large folding map of the Murray (555 x 910 mm, the 'section between Swan Reach and Wentworth ... showing locations of lock-sites', with a very large inset map of the entire length of the river) [and] 32 pages plus a folding map ('Proposed improvements in the vicinity of the mouth of the River Murray', 537 x 518 mm). Contemporary full morocco lettered in gilt on the front cover 'Captain Johnston's River Murray Reports'; the original spine is missing and has been replaced with a fairly pedestrian piece of cloth, giving it a quarter cloth look; extremities rubbed, bumped and a little worn; title pages a little marked (with the second one a little foxed along the top margin); neat repairs to a few trifling tears to the folding plans (with a tapestain to an old repair along one fold of the last map); slight nicks to the bottom edge of some leaves in the first paper; overall in very good condition. The ownership signature of Arthur Searcy 1913 is written in pencil on each title page. Arthur Searcy (1852-1935) was Controller of Harbors from July 1911 and Chairman of the Harbors Board Committee until his retirement at the age of 65 (information from the Searcy scrapbooks in the State Library of South Australia). He was the older brother of the more well-known Alfred (1854-1925). Loosely inserted are retained duplicate typescripts of two letters (in all, four pages foolscap) from Searcy, as Chairman of the Board, to the Minister of Marine, regarding proposed works at Victor Harbor (one page) and Goolwa (three pages). The letters are signed and dated at the head by Searcy (August and September 1922 respectively); the one on Goolwa raises numerous objections to Johnston's scheme. Three related contemporary newspaper cuttings (one printing a lengthy letter from Simpson Newland) are also present. The September 1928 ownership signature of E.H. Bakewell is written in pencil on the recto of the front flyleaf. Bakewell was managing director of the South Australian Reinforced Concrete Company, which makes sense in this context. $1100 [Enquire about this item] |
20. KNIGHT, J.G. (editor): The Northern Territory of South Australia. Adelaide, E. Spiller, Government Printer, 1880. Octavo, 55 pages. Original flush-cut quarter cloth and card covers, with the title page details repeated on the front cover; cloth a little flecked and slightly sunned and rubbed; card a little marked and mottled, with a small corner crease and minimal silverfish nibbling to the rear cover; small sections of the front pastedown pulled away from the cover by the stitching (but the binding is still tightly attached); trifling silverfish nibbling to the tip of the bottom corner of a handful of leaves; overall an excellent copy. At the time of publication, the author was Chief Warden of the Goldfields of the Northern Territory. 'This pamphlet is published by permission of the Government of South Australia; but it is only proper to state that the recommendations herein made, especially with reference to the formation of a railway, have not yet been considered by the Ministry, and must therefore be only regarded as the individual views of the author. A portion of the matter in the following pages was compiled by me' for Harcus's 'South Australia', published in 1876; it 'incorporated some useful papers written by residents there'. That book also contained an important chapter on Central Australia, incorporated here with additional material. To quote Harcus: 'the following interesting and well-written account of Central Australia, along the line of telegraph, has appeared in the "Register". The writer, Mr J.A. Giles, is well acquainted with the whole of the country which he describes. It is the best and most trust-worthy account of Central Australia which has yet been published'. Knight remarks that it 'affords an excellent insight into the vast tract of country'. The article takes up most of the 17-page chapter; it refers on occasion (and thus eliminates any misattribution) to Alfred Giles, the explorer with strong telegraph line credentials. It is augmented with a page of quotations from Charles Winnecke's 1879 Herbert River expedition reports. Ferguson 11231 (pretty light on detail, even to the extent of not recording the binding). $650 [Enquire about this item] |
21. LEWIS, John: Fought and Won. Adelaide, W.K. Thomas and Co., 'The Register' Office, 1922. Octavo, xviii, 243 pages plus 25 plates and a folding map. Decorated purple cloth very lightly flecked and marked, with the spine moderately sunned and slightly snagged at the foot; endpapers offset; an excellent copy. Inscribed to the Honorable D.J. Gordon (possibly in a secretarial hand) and signed by the author. The date July 1923 has been added in pencil, presumably by Gordon; Lewis died on 25 August 1923, and the signature here is a little shaky. The Honorable John Lewis (1844-1923), 'Explorer, bushman, drover, roughrider, pastoralist, businessman, legislator'; his autobiography contains much on the Northern Territory in the 1860s-70s. His father James accompanied Charles Sturt in 1844-45; one of his sons was the industrialist Essington Lewis. The recipient in this instance is no slouch either; Sir David John Gordon (1865-1946), a South Australian journalist and politician, was a 'highly principled man with a strong personality' whose 'liberal individualism permeated his publications, nearly all of which were concerned with resource development' (Australian Dictionary of Biography). $300 [Enquire about this item] |
22. LEWIS, John: Fought and Won. Adelaide, W.K. Thomas and Co., 'The Register' Office, 1922. Octavo, xviii, 243 pages plus 25 plates and a folding map. Decorated purple cloth very lightly flecked and slightly sunned at the head of the spine, with minimal loss to silverfish at the foot of the leading edge; endpapers offset; an excellent copy with the pictorial dustwrapper lightly rubbed and chipped, with a little loss to silverfish to the hinge of the front flap and the head of the front panel. Inscribed to A.N. Day (possibly in a secretarial hand) and signed by the author. Alfred N. Day was Secretary to the Railways Commissioner. The Honorable John Lewis (1844-1923), 'Explorer, bushman, drover, roughrider, pastoralist, businessman, legislator'; his autobiography contains much on the Northern Territory in the 1860s-70s. His father James accompanied Charles Sturt in 1844-45; one of his sons was the industrialist Essington Lewis. $375 [Enquire about this item] |
23. [LIGHT, William]. GILL, Thomas: A Biographical Sketch of Colonel William Light, the Founder of Adelaide and the First Surveyor-General of the Province of South Australia. Compiled from various sources by Thomas Gill ... Enlarged edition, with portraits, maps, illustrations, and facsimiles. Also, a supplement containing a facsimile reprint of Col. Light's Brief Journal, and his reasons for fixing the City of Adelaide where it is. Adelaide, Royal Geographical Society of South Australia, 1911. Octavo, [viii], 108, [vi], 84 pages plus 18 plates, 2 folding maps and 2 folding facsimile documents. Attractive gilt-pictorial full red calf very slightly rubbed at the extremities (and only a little more heavily so near the foot of the rear hinge); top edge gilt, others uncut; the inside margin of one folding map is slightly creased; an excellent copy with the silk marker-ribbon still attached. Number 87 of only 200 copies numbered and signed by Thomas Gill. This is a deluxe, enlarged edition of a item first published as the Supplement to Volume 11 of the Proceedings of the RGSSA in the same year. The extra material includes text, maps and facsimile documents. $550 [Enquire about this item] |
24. [LIGHT, William]: Sicilian Scenery from Drawings by P. De Wint. The Original Sketches of Major Light. London, Rodwell & Martin, 1823. Quarto (trimmed to 265 x 180 mm), unpaginated but comprising a frontispiece vignette ('Sicilian Cottage'), an engraved title page with a vignette ('Crater of Mount Etna'; verso blank), 60 full-page plates (versos blank), each with a leaf of descriptive text (English on one side, the French translation on the verso) and a tissue-guard, and 3 index pages. Contemporary full black morocco extensively gilt- and blind-decorated, all edges gilt; leather a little rubbed at the extremities, with minor wear to the corners; minimal foxing and some offsetting (confined mainly to the tissue-guards); an excellent copy with the ownership signatures of J. Woodhouse (Brasenose College, 1839) and E. Angas Johnson on the front endpaper. William Light (1786-1839), soldier and surveyor, was born in Malaya and spent his childhood in Penang. He served with distinction (and was unharmed) in the Peninsular war. He missed Waterloo, but was severely wounded in a minor Spanish revolution in 1823. In the years before (and after) this, he travelled widely in Europe, and mixed with artistic and literary circles; the material in this book stems from this period. He was appointed the first Surveyor-General of South Australia in February 1836; in December of that year he determined the site of Adelaide, and his plan gave the city its belt of parklands. He died from tuberculosis in October 1839. Edward Angas Johnson (1873-1951) was an Adelaide medical practitioner, prominent in public health circles; his grandmother was a daughter of George Fife Angas. 'His hobby was collecting curios and historical relics, especially those relating to South Australian history. This remarkable collection and his library were distributed to public institutions before his death' (all biographical details from the Australian Dictionary of Biography). $2500 [Enquire about this item] |
25. LINDSAY, David: The Royal Geographical Society of Australasia. South Australian Branch. Explorations in the Northern Territory of South Australia [cover title]. Adelaide, H.F. Leader, Government Printer, 1888. Octavo, 16 pages plus the titling wrappers. Wrappers lightly marked, a little rubbed at the extremities and slightly worn at the head and foot of the spine; plain rear cover is slightly silverfish-damaged; small nick to the top edge of the front cover and the first two leaves; light vertical crease down the centre of the entire pamphlet; contemporary ownership details ('Sidney Flint P118') at the head of the front cover; a very good copy. This account first appeared in the Proceedings of the RGSSA, Volume 2, Third Session, 1887-8; the titling wrappers and pagination are new to this separate issue. Ferguson 11653; McLaren 12608. $550 [Enquire about this item] |
26. LOYAU, George E.: Notable South Australians; or, Colonists - Past and Present. Adelaide, Carey, Page & Co., Printers ('Published under the Author's own immediate Supervision'), 1885. Octavo, viii, 288, [20, advertisements] pages plus 16 lithographs and a mounted albumen paper photograph (98 x 59 mm). Gilt-decorated plum-coloured stippled cloth sunned on the spine, with the front cover lightly mottled and marked; extremities slightly rubbed, with the head of the spine very slightly snagged and the bottom corners a little bumped; a very good copy (internally fine). The lithographs are a delightful frontispiece view of Glenelg in 1837 after John Michael Skipper and 15 full-page portraits. The photograph is of Loyau, facing the camera and looking a little to his right (with the photographers George and Walton credited on the negative). We have identified numerous variants in the plate content. Ferguson 11748 (recording only the frontispiece, with 14 pages of advertisements); Holden 71. $200 [Enquire about this item] |
27. LOYAU, George E.: Notable South Australians; or, Colonists - Past and Present. Adelaide, Carey, Page & Co., Printers ('Published under the Author's own immediate Supervision'), 1885. Octavo, viii, 288, [24, advertisements] pages plus 17 lithographs. Gilt-decorated dark green stippled cloth; tiny ball-point crosses next to 12 names in the index; a fine copy with the contemporary ownership details of Alfred Dawkins, Adelaide, 1890 on the flyleaf. The lithographs are a delightful frontispiece view of Glenelg in 1837 after John Michael Skipper, 15 full-page portraits and a plate containing the portraits of Cotton, Watsford and Waterhouse. The latter is the last plate in the book; this plate is normally an albumen paper photograph of Loyau, but it was clearly never present in this copy. Dawkins' 1890 date raises the possibility that copies sold sometime after the publication date were issued without any photographs. We have identified numerous variants in the plate content. Ferguson 11748 (recording only the frontispiece, with 14 pages of advertisements); Holden 71 (photographically-illustrated copies). $200 [Enquire about this item] |
28. MacDERMOTT, Marshall: A Brief Sketch of the Long and Varied Career of Marshall MacDermott, Esq., JP, of Adelaide, South Australia. Adelaide, William Kyffin Thomas, Printer [for The Author], 1874. Octavo, 53 pages. Flush-cut quarter green cloth and yellow papered boards, with the full title page details repeated on the front cover; some discolouration to the front endpapers from a newspaper cutting; essentially a very fine copy. 'These papers are written solely for private distribution amongst relatives and special friends; and, as my family is rather numerous and dispersed, the necessity arises of having them printed'. This copy is inscribed to 'Percival Randolph Stow, from his affectionate grandfather' and signed by the author. Stow, a son of Judge Randolph Stow, was the second husband of Catherine Stow (Katie Langloh Parker). Loosely inserted is a 1941 newspaper clipping containing a brief biography of the author, an 1829 pioneer of Western Australia before settling in South Australia in 1846; he died in 1877. $750 [Enquire about this item] |
29. [Map]. 'Plan of the Highland Valley Estate, the property of the Honourable E. Stirling MLC'. A large hand-coloured manuscript map on paper (710 x 600 mm) mounted on linen and hemmed with green silk ribbon (now a little frayed and discoloured). There are light tidemarks and some inoffensive discolouration to the map, but overall it is an attractive and very presentable item, 'Drawn by J.M. Painter, 11th September 1863'. Edward Stirling (1804-1873) 'arrived in South Australia in 1839; he eventually bought the pastoral stations of Highland Valley in the Mount Lofty Ranges and Nalpa on Lake Alexandrina. In 1855-61 he was in partnership with (Sir) Thomas Elder, Robert Barr Smith and John Taylor, as Elder, Stirling & Co., which financed the Wallaroo and Moonta copper mines. Appointed to the Legislative Council in 1855 he helped frame the Constitution and was a member of the new council in 1856-65. He died on 2 February 1873 in London. Two South Australian towns bear his name' (Australian Dictionary of Biography). He was the father of Sir Edward Charles Stirling (1848-1919), surgeon, scientist and politician, and Sir John Lancelot Stirling (1849-1932), politician. The map covers the area east of Maccesfield and north and north-east of Strathalbyn. The various coloured sections show the property of E. Stirling, the joint properties of E. and C. Stirling, lands leased by E. Stirling and the 'Monster' lode property. The map also shows 'Old roads closed ... New roads opened'. $1500 [Enquire about this item] |
30. [MAY, Edgar Charles]: Ten tinted lithographs by E.C. May of scenes of Australian country life, after original sketches by S.T. Gill and George Hamilton (five each). Gill's titles are 'Cradling, Forest Creek 1852', 'The Claim Disputed', 'Mustering Cattle', 'Native Sneaking Emus' and 'The Bushranger Pursued'. Hamilton's titles, in which the horse naturally enough features prominently, are 'The Lost Bushman', 'The Found Bushman', 'Bushmen in Danger', 'Australian Bushmen' and 'The Bushman'. Unpublished, but circa 1890, and based on original sketches from upwards of fifty years earlier. The images are printed in brown ink on light brown arch-topped backgrounds (printed surface 150 x 205 mm) on uniform sheets of cream paper (200 x 275 mm). This set is in fine condition in a modern custom-made portfolio, covered in brown cloth lettered in gilt on the front panel 'Scenes of Australian Country Life'. The invaluable (but far from perfect) 'Dictionary of Australian Artists. Painters, Sketchers, Photographers and Engravers to 1870', edited by Joan Kerr, has only this to say: 'MAY, E.C., lithographer, signed nine lithographs celebrating life in the bush and on the goldfields (c.1855-60, ML). He may have been the May who was in partnership with George (?) Walker (q.v.) at Melbourne in the early 1870s'. At least he appears on their radar ... Our ongoing research has established the following facts. Edgar Charles May was born at North Adelaide on 27 May 1867; we have yet to ascertain his date of death, but by 1923 his name had disappeared from the local Sands and McDougall's directories (where he had been listed as an artist). One published example of his work, not noted at all by Kerr and not attributed to May by Ferguson, was offered as item 63 in our catalogue 106A, as 'GILL, S.T. and others: 14 Views of Old Adelaide from Sketches in 1840-1849 by S.T. Gill, F.R. Nixon, S. Calvert and O. Korn. [Adelaide], E.S. Wigg, [1890]. Oblong quarto, [19] leaves, all rectos blank, comprising the gilt-pictorial title page (signed in the image by E.C. May), 14 full-page tinted lithographic views with tissue-guards, the 3-page list of 181 subscribers and the key to plate 5 (between plates 4 and 5)'. This is Ferguson 9924e, which is essentially the same item as Ferguson 9807, apart from the different publishers. We have inspected numerous copies of 9924e (the Wigg version), and the odd Galbraith one, and it is clear that the original Galbraith imprint is masked by the gold blocking carrying the later Wigg imprint. The nature of the contents (reworked material from well-known earlier artists), the medium (tinted lithographs printed in brown) and the style of the work leave us in no doubt that May is responsible for all the material in '14 Views of Old Adelaide'. We also suggest that the 10 lithographs offered here were prepared by him with the intention of putting out a companion volume to '14 Views of Old Adelaide'. The change of publisher after that book was printed leads us to suggest that Galbraith (or May, or both) lost money on the venture, and, who knows, perhaps the Wigg issue was not a commercial success either. In any event, one could see how enthusiasm for a sequel might be considerably diminished. All of these plates are rare; complete sets of them are exceptionally rare on the open market. Until now, they have been poorly documented in the literature; fortunately, some of them have survived to tell their own worthy tale. $5750 [Enquire about this item] |
31. [Melbourne International Exhibition]. A Sketch of South Australia for the Melbourne International Exhibition, 1880. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1880. Octavo, 83 pages plus 4 statistical diagrams and 2 maps (one folding, one in colour). Flush-cut gilt-lettered limp cloth with marbled edges; covers flecked; an excellent copy. 'South Australia. Sketch prepared for issue at Melbourne Exhibition 1880' is printed in gilt with the state coat-of-arms on the front cover. $200 [Enquire about this item] |
32. Meteorological Observations made at the Adelaide Observatory during the Year 1879, under the direction of Charles Todd. Adelaide, Government Printer, 1881. Folio, xxx, 250 pages with numerous charts plus 3 folding maps and 2 large mounted albumen paper photographs ('Equatorial, 8-inch' [Telescope], 235 x 185 mm and 'Thermometer House', 160 x 235 mm). Titling-wrappers, recently bound in cloth with the title in gilt on the front cover; bottom corners of the first few leaves a little creased; edges a little marked; a very good copy, with the photographs in excellent condition. South Australian Parliamentary Paper Number 31 of 1881. Not in Holden; in the Bonython auction catalogue (but not described in detail); definitely the meteorological book for anyone not particularly interested in meteorology. $1100 [Enquire about this item] |
33. MORPHETT, Geo. C.: C.B. Fisher. Pastoralist, Studmaster and Sportsman. An Epic of Pioneering. Compiled by his Great-Nephew. Adelaide, [The Author], 1945. Octavo, [viii], 72 pages plus 20 plates (including 4 folding panoramas). Cloth with minimal flecking to the inside top and bottom edges; an uncirculated copy in the fine dustwrapper in the original packaging. Number 130 of only 200 copies numbered and signed by the author. 'The story deals with the development of country from the "Mt Schanck" run in the south to "Victoria River Downs" and Port Darwin' as well as properties along the Murray and Darling, and in western and northern Queensland. (The Australian Dictionary of Biography has more details). $300 [Enquire about this item] |
34. MORPHETT, Geo. C.: The Life and Letters of Sir John Morphett. Compiled by his Grandson. Adelaide, Hassell Press [for the Author], 1936. Octavo, xii, 167 pages plus 24 plates. Cloth lightly sunned on the spine; essentially a fine copy (without a dustwrapper, as issued). Number 73 of only 100 copies numbered and signed by the author. The original prospectus (one page octavo) is mounted on the front pastedown of this copy; the price in 1936 was one guinea. This copy is also inscribed and signed to 'Major M.V. [sic] Newland with kind regards' (Victor Marra Newland, the third son of Simpson Newland). Loosely inserted is a SA House of Assembly how to vote card featuring Newland, who represented North Adelaide for the Liberal and Country League from 1933 to 1938. Sir John Morphett (1809-1892), landowner and politician: by 1835 he was one of the most enthusiastic and energetic supporters of the new province of South Australia, and he arrived on the Cygnet in September 1836. He was one of the discoverers of the Torrens and at 'the crucial meeting on 10 February 1837 Morphett's votes were decisive in confirming the site of Adelaide ... He threw his weight behind every good cause ... [and his] political career was long and distinguished' (Australian Dictionary of Biography). $400 [Enquire about this item] |
35. MORPHETT, Geo. C.: Sir James Hurtle Fisher, First Resident Commissioner in SA. His Life and Times. Compiled by his Great Grandson. Adelaide, Griffin Press [for the Author], 1955. Octavo, [x], 154 pages plus 8 plates. Cloth; boards slightly bowed and flecked, and endpapers faintly offset, as ever; an excellent copy (without a dustwrapper, as issued). Number 56 of 250 copies numbered and initialled by the author. An autograph letter signed by the author (dated July 1955 and with his 'Cummins', Morphetville blindstamp), discussing the distribution of the book, and the original pictorial order form, are loosely inserted. $150 [Enquire about this item] |
36. MORRISON, W. Frederic: The Aldine History of South Australia, illustrated, embracing Sketches and Portraits of her Noted People; the Rise and Progress of her Varied Enterprises; and Illustrations of her Boundless Wealth; together with Maps of Latest Survey. Sydney, Aldine Publishing Company, 1890. Quarto, two volumes, viii, 384 and viii, 385-823 pages plus 125 lithographs (88 plates or portraits, 20 views, 6 tinted views with tissue-guards and 11 chromolithographic natural history plates) and 2 double-page maps. Half morocco and gilt-stamped green cloth, all edges gilt; extremities very slightly rubbed; one front hinge slightly cracked at the foot, with one tiny borer hole near the centre and with minor insect damage to the cloth inner hinge; cloth very lightly marked; an excellent set. Variant bindings exist; this superior half morocco form also has marbled endpapers and cloth inner hinges. With the ownership initials of Tom Austen Brown in each volume. $900 [Enquire about this item] |
37. The National Directory of South Australia for 1867-68. Including a Squatter's Directory. Also, a New and Correct Map of the Colony. North Melbourne, John W. Butler, [1867]. Octavo, xx (mainly advertisements, with the front endpapers numbered ii and iii, and xviii misprinted as xvii), 234 (last page an advertisement), 65 (advertisements, including the rear endpapers) pages plus a large folding 'South Australian Yearly Advertiser for 1867-68 incorporated with the "National Directory of South Australia"' (425 x 545 mm) - but lacking the map. Original gilt-decorated blind-stamped blue cloth slightly rubbed, marked and dusty, with minimal wear to the top rear edge and the foot of the spine; expert repair to a clean tear across the head of the spine; leading edge of a few early leaves slightly chipped; folding advertising sheet (a two-year calendar surrounded by business card-size advertisements) neatly laid down on linen (early if not original) and now mounted on page vii; a very good copy. A substantial directory, running to 190 pages, including the 9-page Squatters' Directory ('The number at the end of each name indicates the area in square miles of each run' - the winner, of sorts, is 'P. Ferguson near Lake Eyre 300'). Ferguson 13080 (mentioning a folding map but not recording the folding Yearly Advertiser); the first and only issue. $1000 [Enquire about this item] |
38. [NEVILLE, Emma Etta]: Life's Work as it is; or, The Emigrant's Home in Australia. By A Colonist. London, Sampson Low, Son, & Marston, 1867. Octavo, viii, 180 (last one blank), [4, publisher's advertisements], 16 (publisher's advertisements dated October 1866) pages plus a frontispiece woodcut ('The Township of Willunga' by George French Angas). Original plum-coloured cloth decorated in gilt on the spine and in blind on both covers, with the title in gilt on the spine ('Life's Work as it is in Australia'); cloth a little marked, with minor wear to the head and foot of the spine and the two bottom corners; text block resewn, with the covers expertly reattached in one piece; flyleaves a little marked; minor repairs to the inner and bottom margins of one preliminary leaf; occasional fingermarks and mild signs of use; a very good copy with the binder's label at the rear (W. Bone and Son, 74 Fleet St, London) and the contemporary blindstamp of the bookseller Howell, 4 Rundle St, Adelaide on the front flyleaf. A variant of Ferguson 8517 (compare the cover details). 'The information has been carefully gleaned during several years' residence in South Australia ... The scenes principally lie ... within the range of five, ten, thirty, and a hundred miles of Adelaide'. Depasquale (A Critical History of South Australian Literature, 1978) puts it more succinctly: 'a thinly fictional piece of pro-South Australian propaganda'. The last chapter is 'Practical Hints to Emigrants' (pages 155-59); it is followed by a 20-page appendix containing information on public institutions, wages, government regulations and the like. $450 [Enquire about this item] |
39. NEWLAND, Simpson: A Band of Pioneers. Old-Time Memories. Adelaide, Hassell, 1919 [enlarged edition]/ 1895. Octavo, [iv], 43 pages plus 4 plates. Original wrappers a little discoloured around the edges; a fine copy. The very rare first edition, 'Old-Time Memories. A Band of Pioneers', comprised 12 pages of text (double column) without illustrations. $100 [Enquire about this item] |
40. NEWLAND, S[impson]: The Far North Country. Adelaide, Burden & Bonython, 1887. Octavo, 39 pages. Original cloth slightly sunned and flecked; endpapers offset; an excellent copy. A journey by coach from the end of the railway line from Adelaide to Alice Springs, with the object of 'throwing some light upon a subject nearly affecting the welfare and advancement of South Australia'. Newland is blunt about the 'very unsatisfactory' black-white relations; there 'is too much namby-pambyism about the way we deal with the whole subject'. Ferguson 13317. $550 [Enquire about this item] |
41. NEWLAND, S[impson]: The Far North Country. [Reprinted from the 'South Australian Advertiser' - additional cover title]. Adelaide, Burden & Bonython, 'Advertiser' Office, 1887. Octavo, 39 pages. Original light green wrappers very slightly marked and a little sunned; essentially a fine copy with the contemporary ink ownership signature of Sidney Flint at the head of the front cover. A journey by coach from the end of the railway line from Adelaide to Alice Springs, with the object of 'throwing some light upon a subject nearly affecting the welfare and advancement of South Australia'. Newland is blunt about the 'very unsatisfactory' black-white relations; there 'is too much namby-pambyism about the way we deal with the whole subject'. Ferguson 13317 (noting only red cloth boards). $500 [Enquire about this item] |
42. NEWLAND, Simpson: Geographical Society of Australasia. South Australian Branch. The Parkengees, or Aboriginal Tribes on the Darling River. Adelaide, H.F. Leader, Government Printer, 1889. Octavo, 16 pages. Titling-wrappers with the original staples slightly rusty and a couple of tiny rust spots on the front cover; light vertical crease down the centre of the entire pamphlet; an excellent copy. The last page and a half are a 'Vocabulary of Aboriginals of the Upper Darling', also by Newland. This is a separately-paginated offprint of two articles read before the Society on 29 September 1887 and first published in Volume 2 of the Society's Proceedings. Ferguson 13320 (not transcribing the full title, and recording 'sewn', not stapled). $220 [Enquire about this item] |
43. NEWLAND, Simpson: Old-Time Memories. A Band of Pioneers. Reprinted from 'The South Australian Register', 1895. Adelaide, W.K. Thomas and Co., Printers, 1895. Octavo, 13 pages. Pale blue wrappers with the title page details repeated (within a decorative border) on the front cover; tiny piece missing from the front bottom corner, with minimal loss to silverfish to the top edge; small light stain to the foot of the rear cover; partially removed early auction label obscures part of the imprint lines on the front cover; splits to the head and foot of the spine expertly closed; a very good copy (internally excellent). Inscribed in ink on the front cover to 'Sir Samuel Davenport KCMG with the complts of the Author', with an early private library reference number above it. From one pioneer to another - Davenport arrived in South Australia in 1843, Newland in 1838, and in this very rare pamphlet he recounts incidents of his first few years here. Ferguson 13318. $1100 [Enquire about this item] |
44. NEWLAND, S[impson]: Our Waste Lands [and Our Productions - added to the cover title]. Reprinted from the 'South Australian Advertiser'. Adelaide, Burden and Bonython, 'Advertiser' Office, 1888. Octavo, 39 pages. Wrappers a little marked, creased and chipped with slight loss (and with minimal expert restoration to the edges); some creases throughout the text as a result of having been folded; title page (and to a greater degree, the last page, a blank) discoloured by the acidic wrappers; overall a very good copy. Ferguson 13319 (not noting the short title on the title page). $350 [Enquire about this item] |
45. NEWLAND, Simpson (compiler and editor): Land-Grant Railway across Central Australia. The Northern Territory of the State of South Australia as a Field for Enterprise and Capital. Boundless Resources: Pastoral, Agricultural, Mineral. Natural Harbors. Navigable Rivers.... With Illustrations, Maps and Copy of the Act of Parliament authorising Construction of Railway. Adelaide, printed by Hussey and Gillingham for the South Australian Government, 1902. Foolscap folio, [i], 120 pages with 20 numbered illustrations and a full-page frontispiece plus a very large folding colour geological map (in two sections, 660 x 730 mm and 650 x 730 mm) and a very large folding map of Australia (615 x 805 mm, showing the approximate route of the proposed Transcontinental Railway, from Oodnadatta to Pine Creek). Original flush-cut quarter cloth and papered boards lettered in gilt on the front cover; spine a little sunned; corner tips lightly worn; leading edge a little marked; an excellent copy. The full title of the two-part map is 'Geological Map of the Northern Territory of South Australia ... by H.Y.L. Brown FGS, Government Geologist. Physical Geography, compiled by C. Winnecke FRGS, from private and official records. Adelaide, 1898'. Just over half the book (pages 24-84) is devoted to 'Extracts from Journals of Explorers, Travellers, and Others'; in chronological order after John McDouall Stuart come Gosse, Ernest Giles, Barclay, Knight, J.A. Giles, Favenc, Favenc and Crawford, Alfred Giles, Newland, Winnecke, Lindsay, Tietkens, the Horn Expedition (under Winnecke), Davidson, Carrington ... to say nothing of the various pastoralists, overlanders and travellers represented. We have handled a slightly variant copy before; the text of the Transcontinental Railway Act ended at page 120, and it did not have the unnumbered page of text facing the title page (a copy of the announcement, dated 10 December 1902, calling for tenders for construction of the railway). Rare in our experience. $2200 [Enquire about this item] |
46. The Northern Territory of South Australia. Accompanied with a Map. Adelaide, W.C. Cox, Government Printer, 1863. Octavo, 54 pages plus a large folding map and an errata slip (tipped onto the contents page); the map (890 x 650 mm) is of the Northern Territory itself and shows the 'exploration tracks' of Stuart, Sturt, A.C. Gregory, McKinlay and Leichardt [sic]. Grey wrappers with the title page details repeated on the front cover; head and foot of the spine slightly chipped; front cover slightly creased by the large folding map bound in immediately after it; basically a fine copy. 'On 16 July, 1863, the Crown annexed to South Australia "until We think fit to make other disposition thereof the Territory now known as the Northern Territory"'. Responsibility was transferred to the Commonwealth on 1 January 1911. The book reprints the Letters Patent and the relevant Acts and Regulations (20 pages), together with lengthy extracts from Earl's 'Handbook for Colonists in Tropical Australia', printed earlier the same year at the 'Pinang [sic] Gazette' Press in the Straits Settlement (22 pages). The last section, 'Interior of the Country' (12 pages) is largely extracted from the journal of Stuart and the report of Waterhouse, naturalist to his expedition. Ferguson 13458 (the wrappers here are not stiffened, and the title page is also printed within a border). $2500 [Enquire about this item] |
47. The Northern Territory of South Australia. Accompanied with a Map. Adelaide, W.C. Cox, Government Printer, 1863. Octavo, 54 pages plus a large folding map and an errata slip (tipped onto the contents page); the map (890 x 650 mm) is of the Northern Territory itself and shows the 'exploration tracks' of Stuart, Sturt, A.C. Gregory, McKinlay and Leichardt [sic]. Contemporary full morocco with decorative gilt borders front and rear, and the title in gilt on the front cover (a most attractive colonial binding); extremities slightly rubbed; leather slightly dusty; the map has tiny holes nibbled by silverfish along the fold of two (blank) panels, and short splits to four fold junctions (insignificant blemishes); a fine copy. 'On 16 July, 1863, the Crown annexed to South Australia "until We think fit to make other disposition thereof the Territory now known as the Northern Territory"'. Responsibility was transferred to the Commonwealth on 1 January 1911. The book reprints the Letters Patent and the relevant Acts and Regulations (20 pages), together with lengthy extracts from Earl's 'Handbook for Colonists in Tropical Australia', printed earlier the same year at the 'Pinang [sic] Gazette' Press in the Straits Settlement (22 pages). The last section, 'Interior of the Country' (12 pages) is largely extracted from the journal of Stuart and the report of Waterhouse, naturalist to his expedition. Ferguson 13458 (the wrappers here are not stiffened, and the title page is also printed within a border). This copy contains the armorial bookplate of The Honorable Henry Ayers CMG, at the time South Australian Chief Secretary, under whose command the 'Northern Territory Land Regulations' and 'Appointment of Officers' printed in the book were proclaimed. Ayers has underlined in ink six lines in the Northern Territory Act relating to land orders. $3500 [Enquire about this item] |
48. OPIE, E.A.D.: South Australian Records prior to 1841. Adelaide, Hussey & Gillingham Limited, Printers [for the Author], 1917. Octavo, 112 pages. Original wrappers with the title page details repeated within a border on the front cover; extremities slightly rubbed, with minimal wear to the head of the front cover and the ends of the spine; small light mark on the rear cover; very light cockling to the front bottom corner throughout; an excellent copy. 'For private circulation'. With the ownership signature of Fred Johns, of biographical dictionary fame, written in pencil at the head of the front cover. $300 [Enquire about this item] |
49. PARSONS, Herbert Angas: The Truth about the Northern Territory. An Enquiry. Adelaide, Hussey & Gillingham, Printers, 1907. Octavo, [ii], 78 pages. Wrappers with the title page details reprinted on the front cover (within a border); rear cover a little marked and creased; small mark to the leading edge (extending slightly into a few margins); clean tear to the foot of one leaf expertly repaired; some silverfish loss to the title leaf (affecting two letters and part of the date) and small blank portions of three other leaves; essentially a very good copy. Not least, 'Agriculture and the Coloured-Labour Question' (pages 41-61). $250 [Enquire about this item] |
50. PASCOE, J.J. (editor): History of Adelaide and Vicinity. With a General Sketch of the Province of South Australia and Biographies of Representative Men. Adelaide, Hussey and Gillingham, 1901. Large quarto, 691 pages with hundreds of illustrations; one leaf is a large folding statistical table. Attractively gilt-lettered snakeskin-patterned cloth a little rubbed and slightly worn at the extremities, with the foot of the spine expertly reinforced on the underside; cloth lightly marked and sunned; two small tapestains to each flyleaf; one early blank leaf removed; half-title neatly tipped in; overall a very good copy. The biographical register runs to approximately 400 pages. $900 [Enquire about this item] |
51. [Petition]. '17 August /52. Requisition from Tradesmen & others as to a further Issue of the Company's Notes' [docketed title]. A manuscript petition (foolscap folio, 4 pages on two conjugate leaves) to William Giles, Manager of the South Australian Company, asking for a continuance of the Company's paper currency of notes of small value. The first page contains the full text of the petition, the second and third pages are signed by fifty of Adelaide's leading traders, and the last page is blank apart from the docketed title. This is written in the same hand that penned 'Recd 17 Aug /52' to the head of the first page. Folded in quarters across the pages; minimal wear to the open ends of some folds; trifling marks; in excellent condition. The petition is reprinted in full in 'A Brief Sketch of the Coinage and Paper Currency of South Australia' by Thomas Gill (Adelaide, 1912). He is presumably transcribing this unique copy, which has clearly come from the archives of the South Australian Company at some stage. The petition arose primarily out of the parlous situation South Australia found itself in when some 16,000 men, the bulk of its male population, departed for the Victorian goldfields, taking with them what metallic currency they could. Tradesmen 'and others had recourse to promissory notes as a substitute for specie ... [and were] forced on the expedient of issuing and receiving notes of hand to supply the place of real money ... In May, 1852, the South Australian Company issued notes of fixed values of "Five Shillings" at Port Adelaide on the manager of the South Australian Company at Adelaide'. This petition of August 1852 was prompted by the Company's recent decision to cease issuing its own currency in small denominations; it is asked to reconsider 'and again facilitate the operations of business, which will otherwise be attended with great loss as well as inconvenience to your memorialists. We beg further to urge upon you the propriety of complying with their views by calling attention to the circumstances that numerous private parties, who comparatively are irresponsible, will issue such notes from their various places of business, the evils of which we need not enumerate'. Thomas Gill (1849-1923), the South Australian bibliographer and historian, who knew a thing or two, had this to say about the signatories: 'Amongst others who signed the petition were the principal retail traders in Adelaide - Messrs. Blyth Bros., J. & T. Waterhouse, Henry Muirhead, Charles Everett, F.H. Faulding, Alexander Hay, George Wills, Goodiar & Soward, Thomas Futcher, Robert Cottrell, G. Dehane, D. Fisher, Alfred Spain, Samuel Bakewell, C.H. Pollack, T. Reynolds, James Waterman, H.H. Bickford, Richard Fiveash, J.G. Coulls, Charles G.E. Platts, Macgeorge & Co., Thomas Graves, G. Phillips, John Colton, E. Suter, William Leaver, and Lanyon and Harris'. Some of these are well-known names to this day; a student of the subject will make short work and much sense of the rest of them. When Gill published his account in 1912 he stated, with reference to this period, that 'Very few of the promissory notes then issued are now in existence'. A century later, presumably the situation has not improved; but who would have thought then that this extraordinary petition would now be on the open market ... $5500 [Enquire about this item] |
52. [Port Adelaide]. ROSE, Arthur: The Catalogue of the Library of Port Adelaide Institute (Incorporated). Adelaide, printed for E.H. Derrington by L. Henn and Co., 1884. Octavo, 270, xix (advertisements) pages (including the recto of the rear flyleaf) plus advertisements on the pastedowns and adjacent pages of the flyleaves. Original purple cloth sunned on the spine and (slightly and unevenly) on the front cover; spine a little marked; endpapers offset; a very good copy (internally fine). The compiler was the librarian. From the collection of Dr Frederick Lucas Benham, with his bookplate and ownership signature, plus a letter to him from the Institute in 1905 'expressing great regret at your resignation' (mounted on a rear advertising page). Also mounted on two other advertising pages are sheets of information relating to Institutes and their price list of journals (dated 1904). Loosely inserted is a lengthy newspaper clipping regarding the old tollgate on Port Road, and a four-page octavo card (now starting to split along a fold across the centre) from the Institute, containing a printed list of nearly 100 magazine titles held by the library, with the number ordered, their cost price and how many were sold. This makes interesting reading - the most popular magazines were Pearson's, The Strand and The Windsor at 49 copies each. Ferguson 14258. This material is offered together with a copy of MELENG, F.E.: Fifty Years of the Port Adelaide Institute (Incorporated) with Supplementary Catalogue (Adelaide, Vardon and Pritchard, 1902; octavo, [viii], 84, [iv], 124 (catalogue), xxi (advertisements) pages plus numerous plates; original textured wrappers a little creased and sunned). $350 [Enquire about this item] |
53. [Ports and Harbors]. Two volumes of nineteenth century South Australian Parliamentary Papers relating to ports and harbors, together with a small quantity of related manuscript material, collected by Geoffrey Ingleton. They are uniformly and handsomely bound in quarter morocco and buckram, with contrasting titling labels on the spines ('Early Port of Adelaide Parliamentary Papers, 1869-1878' and 'Early South Australian Ports. Parliamentary Papers, 1869-1880'); typed title leaves (signed by Ingleton) and lists of contents are included. The first volume contains eleven Parliamentary Papers (in all, 98 pages plus 7 plans or charts) plus a printed broadside and 11 manuscript documents totalling 19 pages. The documents, all dated 1878, include a proof copy of the Report of the Board of Advice (one page foolscap folio, signed in ink by the State Treasurer, and third-time Premier, James Boucaut, with a few minor corrections in pencil by Captain Frederick Howard, Chairman of the Board), a four-page draft report on Largs Bay - Semaphore Jetty Beach Boats (with a cover note initialled by Boucaut) and a two-page draft 'Report on probable effect of sea outlet for sewerage [sic] of Adelaide' by Howard. It also contains a large broadside (570 x 295 mm, printed in four columns, recto only) headed 'Outer Harbour at Marino. Public Meeting at Brighton. "South Australian Register", August 31, 1878'. The most substantial Parliamentary Paper is 'Report of the Select Committee ... on Holdfast Bay Pier and Railway Bill 1869-70 (SAPP 209 of 1870; vi, 53 pages plus a small plan of Sandridge Old Pier). The best of the maps are Goalen's 1875 'Port Adelaide' (610 x 870 mm) and 'Plan of Proposed Harbour at Marino' (330 x 540 mm). The second volume contains twelve Parliamentary Papers, five of them duplicates of those in the first volume (in all, 216 pages plus 2 maps and a plan, but lacking the three plans from one duplicated paper, 'Ocean Steamer Accommodation' [SAPP 108 of 1878]; 3 pages plus an additional leaf, printed later and not present in the first volume). The most substantial paper is 'Report of the Select Committee ... into the Desirability of forming an Outer Harbor (SAPP 113 of 1876; viii, 122 pages). The other maps are a folding 'Plan of Port Adelaide (342 x 251 mm) and 'Marino Bay with Proposed Breakwater' (400 x 555 mm). Most of the maps and charts are detached, and some have a few tears; there is sporadic foxing to the printed material, but overall the condition is excellent. Further details are available on request. $3000 [Enquire about this item] |
54. RICHARDSON, Norman A.: The Pioneers of the North-West of South Australia, 1856 to 1914. Adelaide, W.K. Thomas ... Printers, 1925. Octavo, [xii], 155 pages with numerous plates plus a folding map (325 x 285 mm). Cloth; trifling creases to a few leaves (production flaws); a fine copy with the fine pictorial dustwrapper (with a tiny tear to the bottom edge of the rear panel). With the contemporary ownership signature (dated 3 October 1925) of J.G. Duncan-Hughes on the pastedown. We have handled a copy with a note in Harry Muir's hand stating that the edition comprised '350 full cloth / 150 paper'. $650 [Enquire about this item] |
55. RICHARDSON, Norman A.: The Pioneers of the North-West of South Australia, 1856 to 1914. Adelaide, W.K. Thomas ... Printers, 1925. Octavo, [xii], 155 pages with numerous plates and a folding map (325 x 285 mm). Original wrappers (reprinting most of the title page details, within a decorative border); covers very slightly marked, with the short title and author lightly pencilled on the plain spine; offsetting to the half-title and the adjacent blank (from newspaper cuttings no longer present); trifling silverfish nibbling to the last leaf and the final blank; short tear to the leaf facing the folding map expertly repaired (the damage caused by the folding map itself); an excellent copy. With the ownership signature of F.H. Wells on the flyleaf and a presentation inscription from him to Harold Taylor (dated 25 June 1928) on an early blank. We have handled a copy with a note in Harry Muir's hand stating that the edition comprised '350 full cloth / 150 paper'. $400 [Enquire about this item] |
56. [Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch]. Proceedings of the Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch. First Session, 1885-6. Edited by A.T. Magarey and J.W. Jones. Adelaide, E. Spiller, Government Printer, 1886. Octavo, 110 pages plus 22 plates and a folding map. Original red cloth slightly rubbed and flecked; spine a little darkened; endpapers lightly foxed; an excellent copy. The inaugural address by Sir Samuel Davenport (pages 39-99) is a potted history of the discovery and exploration of Australia; many of the plates are portraits of explorers. With the ownership signature of Fred Johns on the flyleaf. $650 [Enquire about this item] |
57. SANSOM, PM Bro. Philip: History of the First Fifty Years of the South Australian Lodge of Friendship from 1834 to 1884. Written expressly for and read at the Jubilee Meeting on October 22, 1884. Adelaide, Lodge of Friendship, 1886. Octavo, [iv], 88 pages. Cloth a little flecked, slightly marked and a little rubbed at the extremities, with slight wear to the corners and the ends of the spine (which is sunned and carries the faint residue of the title written in white ink along it); front flyleaf creased and slightly chipped; a very good copy. Inscribed 'With fraternal compliments' and signed by the author, with the (later?) ownership signature of Will Sowden. Ferguson 15449. $300 [Enquire about this item] |
58. [SKIPPER, John Michael]. STOWELL, Reverend Hugh: Hints on Self-Examination. London, Religious Tract Society, 1840. 32mo (100 x 67 mm), 30, [2, publisher's list] pages. Flush-cut textured card covers, all edges gilt; covers slightly marked, with a crease down the middle of the rear one; head of the spine slightly nicked; small light mark to the verso of the front cover and the half-title; bottom margin of the last two leaves lightly stained; an excellent copy. The ownership signature of 'Frances Amelia Skipper 1842' is written in ink at the head of the title page. A delightful original pen drawing appears on the inside front cover, opposite the printed half-title ('Self-Examination'). The drawing features a young woman in crinoline peering intently at herself in a full-length mirror ... The (slightly ambiguous) initials of the artist leave us in no doubt that he is the husband of young Frances. John Michael Skipper (1815-1883), artist and solicitor, 'arranged to be articled to Charles Mann, the new South Australian advocate-general, and sailed in the "Africaine", arriving at Holdfast Bay on 6 November 1836. He sketched scenes on the voyage, and met Frances Amelia, eldest daughter of Robert Thomas; he married her on 28 December 1839.... Chiefly remembered as an artist, Skipper combined a lively mind with acute observation and a natural and cultivated skill with some aesthetic sensibility. His sketches and paintings of the landscape, the flora, fauna and Aboriginals of South Australia, and of the streets, buildings, people, way of life and notable events of Adelaide are of some artistic and great historical interest. Most of his drawings and paintings are small' (Australian Dictionary of Biography). He is perhaps best-known today through the facsimile edition of his personal copy of George Wilkinson's 1848 publication, 'South Australia; its Advantages and its Resources'. The original work is unillustrated; many of the margins of Skipper's copy are embellished with exquisite watercolour vignettes relating to incidents described in the text. Generally 'it is Skipper's sense of fun that predominates - his pleasure in matching the most improbable images to mundane phrases in Wilkinson's text - together with his dramatic power and his delight in executing all his sketches with the most delicate refinement of detail and mastery of light and shade' (from Dr John Tregenza's introduction). Exemplifying these statements - and recycling some of the imagery used in our item - is the illustration at the foot of page 134 of the facsimile edition. Wilkinson devotes this chapter to sheep, and, in this section, to diseased sheep that need to be dressed with a lotion. He states that 'this again employs several men, and requires great care. When first caught in the dressing pen, the sheep are placed on the rump'. Skipper underlines 'caught' and puts an asterisk in the margin. His illustration shows a scruffy male being surprised by the lady of the house while he's inspecting himself in a full-length mirror in her chamber ('caught in the dressing pen' - get it now?!). A copy of the Wilkinson facsimile edition is available for $100; one great pity with it is that the illustrations are not reproduced in colour - and don't buy it if this brand of humour doesn't do it for you. $1650 [Enquire about this item] |
59. SOLLY, Benjamin Travers (1820-1902): An original watercolour, 'Glenelg / Holdfast Bay / 1840', signed in the bottom right-hand corner 'B Travers Solly' - a very rare early topographical view of the birthplace of the colony of South Australia. The image size is 227 x 338 mm; apart from a short closed tear to a plain portion near the bottom left-hand corner, it is in excellent condition, recently archivally mounted and housed in a custom-made Mylar sleeve. The artist is looking out to sea across the small settlement, taking in a handful of cottages or fishermen's huts, perhaps the 'Custom-house', a post-and-rail paddock, a solid and solitary tree stump, a lone pedestrian, a beached hulk, and on the water, a sailing ship making its departure. There is not much colour in the scene - perhaps there never was, especially to a new chum, if a contemporary account that notes 'The summer of 1840 set in unusually hot and trying' can be relied upon ('Memories of Early Days in South Australia', 1882). Nothing much has changed on that score ... The invaluable 'Dictionary of Australian Artists. Painters, Sketchers, Photographers and Engravers to 1870' edited by Joan Kerr contains half a page on Solly. The following note incorporates and expands on that information. The artist arrived in South Australia on the 'Brightman' on 13 December 1840 (which narrows the period when this watercolour was produced to within about a fortnight). In March 1856 he married Jane Isabella Watts, the youngest daughter of the postmaster-general of South Australia (not to be confused with her namesake, whose anonymous memoir is quoted above). He then relocated to Tasmania, where he was assistant colonial secretary from 1857 to 1894. 'No information survives about Solly's training as an artist, but in his 1856 account of his family he refers to the artistic talent of his three sisters. As he was the youngest child, it is possible that his sisters influenced his artistic development.... His earliest drawings date from the late 1830s, when he was aged about nineteen, and continue until about 1894, when he was seventy-four. They are mainly landscapes, in pen, pencil or watercolour'. (The dictionary also contains an entry for one of the sisters, Amelia Solly [1811-1902]). Benjamin Solly's work is rarely encountered, and material such as this piece, produced within days of his arrival in the fledgling colony of South Australia as a 20-year old immigrant, is an exciting discovery worthy of note. $16500 [Enquire about this item] |