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; top edge slightly foxed; a near-fine copy with the near-fine dustwrapper (very slightly sunned and rubbed).
The thirty-five 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.
Item #138494
Price (AUD):
$300.00