WICKES, Edward Walter, 1795-1868

Wickes' Educational Series for Australian Use. History of England for Australian Beginners [cover title]

Adelaide, Printed and Published by David Gall, 1871 (thirty-second thousand).

Duodecimo, 36 pages plus the pictorial title-cover and rear cover advertisement.

Flush-cut card covers (blue paper mounted on plain card) originally sewn onto the text (thread now missing); minor signs of use and age, but nonetheless a decent copy with the contemporary ownership details of young 'Friedrich Busch 1873' in ink on the inside front cover.

The outside rear cover lists nine titles (including this one) in Wickes' Educational Series for Australian Use. The works were 'specially compiled' by Edward Walter Wickes (1795-1868), 'formerly Secretary to the Board of Education', who had also conducted his own school in North Adelaide in the 1840s and 1850s. A lengthy testimonial to him appeared in the 'South Australian Weekly Chronicle', 12 October 1867. In part it noted that 'he essayed to benefit the children of the working classes by the introduction of very cheap school books, which he accomplished, for he published books so cheap that the poorest were not debarred from purchasing them'. Despite the large numbers printed (clearly there were at least 32,000 of our title by 1871, and it appears to have still been published as late as 1891), copies of any edition are very scarce. Trove records a grand total of only five copies, ranging from 1858 to 1891, with none from the 1870s.

Item #115341

Price (AUD): $250.00
other currencies