The first five issues of the literary and art journal 'Angry Penguins'
Adelaide (Numbers 1 to 4), Adelaide University Arts Association (Numbers 1 and 2), and Max Harris (Numbers 3 and 4), and Melbourne, Reed & Harris (Number 5), [1940] to September 1943.
Octavo (Numbers 1 to 3), small quarto (Number 4), and quarto (Number 5), with pagination, presentation and pictorial content varying greatly over the course of the history of the journal.
Overlapping wrappers (Numbers 1 to 3), colour-pictorial wrappers by James Gleeson (Number 4), and drop-title (Number 5); Numbers 3 and 5 are very good copies with minor signs of age and use; the other three are in excellent condition.
There were eventually nine issues: the first number was edited by D.B. Kerr and Max Harris; the next three were edited by Harris; he was joined by John Reed for the last five numbers. The first number of the journal took off where 'Phoenix' (published by the Adelaide University Union) crashed and burned. The introductory note says it all: 'Last year "Phoenix" went, and thus was happily consummated a failure to understand which had started with the first number. Had the members of the Union Committee struck with conviction or even cynicism they might have been pardoned, but without scruples they promoted their apathy to the rank of fervour, and to this there was no immediate answer. Again the calm sincerity of the University's indifference readily absorbed the shock. The production of this magazine will appear then an act of defiance, and indeed it is, but defiance is a dish to be eaten cold; whether good or bad the magazine itself is infinitely more important than the disturbances which lie behind it'. The editorial to Number 4 (early 1943) calls it the 'Transition Number', and Harris and Reed ('Collaborating Editor, Art Section') make individual remarks. Harris says 'With "Angry Penguins 4" you see a change from the productions which preceded this issue. Both in function and set-up it has ceased to be a literary anthology, and is becoming a literary and art journal proper. It has behind it the enthusiasm and backing of progressive writers from every part of Australia, and from every branch of the Services; it has the support of the leading painters in the country through its connection with the Contemporary Art Society of Australia. It is gaining recognition in the U.S.A. as the authoritative statement of immediate Australian culture'. The editorial in the last number (Number 9, July 1946) stated that, with the end of the war and the easing of certain wartime publishing restrictions from March 1946, hopefully the journal 'will appear at fairly regular quarterly intervals'. However, a certain amount of inevitable disillusionment had settled over the Australian cultural scene, interest in modern painting and literature had waned, and 'some literary journals are feeling the strain of these adverse conditions'. Some journals were finding sales dropping alarmingly, others were being forced off the market. 'At the moment we can luckily claim a rising circulation both here and in America'. Be that as it may, Number 9 was the last issue of 'Angry Penguins', and looking at the list of contents, both artistic and literary, it is perhaps hardly surprising. No issue of 'Angry Penguins' may be considered common; although 900 copies of the notorious Ern Malley number - the sixth - were printed and sold, there were only 450 copies of Number 5, and overall the magazine failed to break even. Provenance: Ruth Tuck (1914-2008), the South Australian modernist painter, with her signature in the first four volumes. Two later ephemeral commemorative publications are included with the run. [5 items].
Item #138748
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