History of the First Bushmen's Club in the Australian Colonies, established at Adelaide, South Australia. Compiled from Various Sources, and furnishing in detail its Origin and Progress up to the Present Year, 1872; also Miscellaneous Readings, Letters, etc
Adelaide, 'published by Superintendent of Club', 1872.
Octavo, viii, [9]-408 pages (the last 8 being advertisements) plus 2 frontispiece lithographs ('Present Bushmen's Home' and 'Proposed Bushmen's Home').
Flush-cut dark blue cloth over thin boards, with the short title in gilt on the front cover; cloth lightly marked and rubbed at the extremities; spine a little sunned; inner hinges cracked but firm; very occasional foxing, slightly heavier on the edges and endpapers; small light stain in the front gutter; an excellent copy.
The name of the anonymous author, a cousin of the somewhat more famous Victor, is added in pencil on the title page. Ferguson 10643 (recording only 'blue morocco cloth boards'). 'By 1866 a ravaging northern drought accelerated the need to succour bush workers, who were often victims of their own excesses and were preyed upon between jobs. Hugo pressed for a "bushmen's home", like a seamen's home, as a quiet, sober refuge. Opposition came from those who saw it as a squatters' movement, but his canvassing, bushmen's subscriptions and philanthropic support enabled the home to open in Whitmore Square, Adelaide, in May 1870' ('Australian Dictionary of Biography').
Item #97606
Price (AUD):
$650.00