The Australian Irrigation Colonies on the River Murray, in Victoria and South Australia
London, Chaffey Brothers, [1889 (third edition)]/ 1888.
Folio (395 x 285 mm), xviii, 130 pages (including the free endpapers) with numerous illustrations and illustrated advertisements plus advertisements on the pastedowns.
Original gilt- and blind-decorated red bubble-grain cloth, with a large advertisement for Pears' Soap in gilt on the rear cover; cloth a little wrinkled along the spine, marked on the front cover, and lightly worn at the extremities; hinges cracked but firm; endpapers tanned and with a few contemporary inkstamps, with a printed label on the front free endpaper (see below); minor signs of age and handling; overall, a very good copy.
A self-promotional prospectus on a grand scale, as befits the scheme itself. At the foot of page xvii there are some interesting notes about the illustrations, not least of which is that 'Our views of the River Murray are chiefly from drawings accurately made from nature by Mr J.M. Needham, of South Australia'. Ferguson 17976 records only the first edition. This revised and augmented edition includes as an appendix 'Progress Reports, 1888'; the latest date we noticed was on a quote from a journal dated 18 January 1889. The inkstamps are from 'Haynes & Boyden ... Agents for Chaffey Bros. Irrigation Lands'; the small label is from 'Geo. H. Haynes (Late Haynes & Boyden)'. Loosely inserted are two pieces of printed ephemera relating to the Chaffey Brothers and the Australian Irrigation Colonies. The first one is a 'Form of Application ... [for] parcels of land at Mildura', dated 1 July 1889 (340 × 215 mm, a bifolium, first page blank, last page printed as a docket). The second one is the 'Directors' Progress Report ... 28th February, 1890' (335 × 210 mm, a bifolium, last page blank); this is the fourth half-yearly report. [3 items].
Item #147675
Price (AUD):
$600.00