The Blue and Brown Diamond. A History of the 27th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, 1915-1919
Adelaide, Lonnen and Cope, 1921. Dornbusch 310; Fielding and O'Neill, page 227; Trigellis-Smith 226. More
Featured Items
The Physical Atlas of Natural Phenomena
Edinburgh, W. & A.K. Johnston, 1856 ('A New and Enlarged Edition')/ 1848. One of the earliest colour-printed atlases, and an early example of a thematic one, with sections on Geology and Geography (11 maps), Hydrography (6 maps), Meteorology and Magnetism (6 maps), Botany (2 maps), Natural History (6 maps), and..... More
'Antarctic Petrels on the Nest, Cape Hunter'
This print comes from the original 1915 Australian exhibition of Hurley photographs; this was a slightly enlarged version of the London exhibition held earlier in the same year. The full title of the Australian exhibition catalogue is 'Exhibition of Unique Photographic Pictures taken during the Australasian Antarctic Expedition. Also other..... More
'The Nugget Penguin Rookery'
A striking view showing two unidentified expeditioners among the royal penguins at the colony on Nuggets Beach, Macquarie Island. This vintage print comes from the original 1915 Australian exhibition of Hurley photographs; this was a slightly larger version of the London exhibition held earlier in the same year. The label..... More
A pair of quarter-plate daguerreotype portraits (each approximately 100 × 80 mm) of Thomas Radford (1795-1867) and his wife Martha (1796-1867)
The Radfords were born in Devon, emigrated to South Australia in October 1838, and lived in the Barossa Valley from the mid-1840s until their death. From the perceived ages of the subjects, these images would appear to date from the 1850s. Other (later) images of the Radfords are held in..... More
The Log of HMS 'Bounty', 1787-1789
Guildford, Genesis Publications Limited, 1975 (first edition). Number 436 of 500 copies. A facsimile of Bligh's manuscript log of the ill-fated voyage of the 'Bounty' (held by the Public Record Office, London, ADM 55/151), with an introduction by the late Admiral of the Fleet, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma. It..... More
'Officers of the Sth Australian Contingent, Mounted Rifles, 1897'. An impressive portrait photograph of three officers in London for Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations
Those present are Colonel James Rowell, Captain Howard Locke Dexter Wilson, and Lieutenant James Hay. 'James Rowell (1851-1940), soldier, orchardist and politician ... is best known for his association with the Volunteer Military Forces of South Australia before Federation, then with those of the Commonwealth.... He commanded the South Australian..... More
An autograph letter signed by Queen Adelaide to Mrs Maria Francis Pallmer, requesting help for a subscription in support of flood victims in northern Germany
The cover is addressed to 'Mrs Pallmer, Norbiton', and is sealed with the Queen's wax seal (the Royal crown below a capital A). Mrs Pallmer, née Dennis, was wife of Charles Nicholas Pallmer, Member of Parliament and Jamaican slave owner, who owed his Surrey estate to his wife. Pallmer was..... More
'Suffolk Punch Mares, Imported by Hon. George Brookman MLC'. A triptych of three original sepia-toned gelatin silver photographs in the original mount (with calligraphic captions in white ink) and frame (external dimensions 345 × 875 mm). Each image (visible size approximately 145 × 200 mm) shows Sir George Brookman (1850-1927, mining speculator, politician and philanthropist) holding the lead rope of one of the three Suffolk Punch mares he imported for his stud farm at O'Halloran Hill around the middle of 1905. The horses are identified as Beauty, Snowdrop and Molly
Two of these images (heavily cropped to show only the horse) were reproduced in 'The Observer' (Adelaide, 24 June 1905). The photographer is not identified. The Suffolk is a breed of draught horse nicknamed Punch because of its stocky appearance and power (Hendricks: 'International Encyclopedia of Horse Breeds', 2007). More
A Clockwork Orange
London, William Heinemann Ltd, 1962 (first edition). More
A comprehensive collection of approximately 200 books on all aspects of bells and bell-ringing, being the working library of Hervey Bagot, who is in the process of down-sizing after more than 40 years as a professional campanologist
The books are in excellent condition; in most instances they were purchased new. The publications are in a wide range of languages - predominantly English, but also German, French, Dutch, and Italian, with the occasional one in Danish and Russian - reflecting the traditional origins of the subject-matter, but its..... More
Annual Report of the Agricultural Department, Privy Council Office, on the Contagious Diseases Inspection and Transit of Animals for the Year 1888, with an Appendix
London, HMSO, 1889. British Parliamentary Paper C. 5679 of 1889. The highly detailed and impressive plates illustrate the sections on swine fever, anthrax, tubercular mammitis and actinomycosis bovis ('lumpy jaw'). Reading these reports suggests the rise of vegetarianism in Victorian England was not without good cause. This paper is contained..... More
Bodywhine. A Treatise on the Jardinian Theory. Cartoons by R.W. Blundell, with a Few Words by V.M. Branson
Adelaide, Rigby Ltd., 1933. 'The Book has been written for the new regime of cricket; the batter, bruise and bust cricket, which has been thrust upon us. This travesty of an erstwhile noble sport demands new techniques to master it ... We find after years of research that all previous..... More
Loading Grain
This striking image (presumably from the 1930s) features numerous symbols of heavy industry - steam trains, silos, a ship, the elevated loading spout pouring out grain - with the powerfully-built plant operator imposed in front of all of them. It may have been a study for a mural; a lightly..... More
Paul Delvaux. Oeuvre gravé. Préface, notices et catalogue par Mira Jacob
Monaco, Editions André Sauret, 1976. The catalogue raisonné of engravings and lithographs by Paul Delvaux from 1966 to 1976. More
Wild Rivers. Franklin/ Denison/ Gordon
Sandy Bay, Peter Dombrovskis Pty Ltd, 1983. A singular copy: the title page is signed by Peter Dombrovskis (1945-1996), Bob Brown and Alan Missen, 'Senator for Victoria' (1925-1986), who 'spoke out against the building of Tasmania's Franklin River dam' ('Australian Dictionary of Biography'). More
Journal of the Elder Scientific Exploring Expedition, 1891-92. Under Command of D. Lindsay. Equipped solely at the Cost of Sir Thomas Elder GCMG for the Purpose of completing the Exploration of Australia ...
Adelaide, Government Printer, 1893. The journal was originally published with two maps; they are basically identical, but one has added chromolithographic geological features, and a key. This second map is not offered here. McLaren 12614 (the dimensions for the maps are larger than those we have recorded here, because McLaren..... More
A Voyage to Terra Australis, undertaken for the Purpose of completing the Discovery of that Vast Country ... in the Years 1801, 1802, and 1803
Adelaide, Government Printer, 1989 (facsimile edition)/ 1814. A superb production, limited to only 500 numbered sets (this is number 98). The storage box was designed with a matching two-door lid opening at the centre, and attached to the base with piano hinges. About a third of the edition was issued..... More
Dardan-Hells, 1915. Being the Unofficial Log of a Battleship which took an Active Part in the Exploit from Start to Finish of the Dardanelles and the Gallipoli Campaign Adventures [an unpublished typescript manuscript prepared for publication circa 1960]
The author's short introduction to this work speaks for itself: 'I'm getting towards the afternoon of life now. Looking back to the Dardanelles and Gallipoli in 1915, and the part played by the naval forces and squadrons, I am not only surprised, but am definitely annoyed that, although innumerable volumes..... More
Savage Life in Central Australia
London, Macmillan and Co., Limited, 1924. The 'country, the habits and customs as well as the beliefs of the Wonkonguru and their neighbours [east of Lake Eyre] ... For the last eight or nine years Mr Aiston has dwelt at Mungeranie, although more than twenty years he has spent in..... More
The Desert Column. Leaves from the Diary of an Australian Trooper in Gallipoli, Sinai, and Palestine
Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 18 April 1932 (second impression)/ 15 April 1932. With a foreword by General Sir Harry Chauvel, 'Late Commanding the Desert Mounted Corps'. Idriess introduces this account of his service with the 5th Light Horse Regiment with these words: it 'is more than my diary. It is..... More
An autograph sentiment (in pencil) signed by Helen Keller ('With love | from her friend | Helen Keller | July 1st, 1948')
The short message was written in the autograph book of a young Sandra Waterman, daughter of Ewen Waterman, President of the South Australian Deaf and Dumb Society. Helen Keller visited South Australia with her travelling companion Polly Thompson from 23 June to 11 July 1948; a surprise party was held..... More
Catalogue of an Exhibition of Paintings, Pastels, Drawings and Woodcuts illustrating Col. T.E. Lawrence's Book 'Seven Pillars of Wisdom'. With Prefaces by Bernard Shaw and T.E. Lawrence
London, Ernest Brown & Phillips, The Leicester Galleries, 1927 (second printing - '2nd Edition' is printed at the head of the front cover). 'Exhibition No. 427 February 5th-21st, 1927'; Shaw's preface runs to seven pages, Lawrence's (five pages) is an extract 'from a note on Mr Kennington's Arab portraits written..... More
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. This rare pamphlet contains an account of Lindsay's 'Arnheim's Land Explorations in 1883', but it primarily concerns a more recent expedition, 'a private one, fitted out at my own expense'. The 'Australian Dictionary of Biography' has the following to say about this series of..... More
Examen du Livre des Recreations Mathematiques, et de ses Problemes en Geometrie, Mecanique, Optique et Catoptrique. Où sont aussi discutées & restablies plusieurs experiences Physiques y proposées
Paris, Chez Rolet Boutonné, 1638 [second edition]/ 1630. The second edition of Claude Mydorge's expanded edition and critique of this popular early work of recreational mathematics, first published in 1624 and usually attributed to Jean Leurechon. Each of Leurechon's mathematical problems is reprinted here in roman type, with Mydorge's explanatory..... More