The Native Tribes of Western Australia. Edited by Isobel White
Canberra, National Library of Australia, 1985.
Octavo, xii, 387 pages plus 19 plates, a map and colour endpaper illustrations.
Cloth; a fine copy with the near-fine dustwrapper.
The 35-page introduction by the editor is essential reading. The original manuscript of half a million words 'was written during Mrs Bates's period of service with the Western Australian Government from 1904 to 1912'; most of the information on the Aborigines of north-west Australia was gained on three journeys and a year's residence near Broome in the five years from 1899. Soon after the WA Government terminated her employment, Bates moved to Ooldea in South Australia where the well-known phase of her life with the Aborigines commenced. Provenance: Roslyn Poignant, with a warm inscription to her from the publisher's editor (Sally McCann) on the title page (which is also signed by Isobel White). Roslyn Poignant (1927-2019) 'was a fine writer, a respected scholar and a tenacious historical detective. Trained as an anthropologist and historian, she was also a masterful interpreter of photographic evidence. Her forensic yet deeply humane research brought past injustices kicking and screaming into the present' (Obituaries Australia, online).
Item #131432
Price (AUD):
$300.00