Songs of Central Australia
Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1971.
Quarto, liv, 775 pages plus a colour frontispiece, a large folding map (885 × 685 mm) in an endpocket, and a tipped-in corrigenda slip at page [xi].
Original blind-decorated brown cloth; text paper lightly tanned as ever; minimal signs of handling; a near-fine copy with the very good price-clipped colour-pictorial dustwrapper (chipped with slight loss to the head of the front joint, with a few very short closed tears).
The detailed four-colour map of Aboriginal Central Australia is based on information from Strehlow's field note books, 1932-1969; an extensive index is printed on the verso. 'The first complete account of the poetic heritage of the aboriginal people of Central Australia; an analysis of aboriginal songs as fully-developed oral literature, and their evaluation as authoritative documents of aboriginal religion' (from the original prospectus). One of only 500 copies of the original release, perennially scarce and, more importantly, of perennial interest.
Item #144772
Price (AUD):
$7,800.00