Australiana

Forty Fathoms Deep – Ion Idriess – Signed Annotated 1937 Edition

Signed, annotated third edition published February 1937, a month after the first edition.

A vivid and thrilling edition from Idriess on the pearling industry centred in Broome, in the Northern Territory of Australia.

Published by Angus & Robertson, Sydney. Octavo, 343 pages, 10 pages advertisements for other Idriess titles. Green cloth covered boards black titles to spine and front cover. Dust jacket designed by Edgar Alfred Holloway This is the orange variant (sometimes yellow or yellow and orange – see authority Feain and Aronry page 42). Map of northern Australia, Torres Strait and Papua New Guinea on front endpaper, rear blank. 19 pages of black and white illustrations.

Very good condition, very clean inside and a dust jacket with minor nibbles along the top and a part removed top of inside flap.

Annotated and signed boldly by Idriess on the title page … “Wishing Mrs Noah Van Cleef many happy memories on her trip to Australia. Ion L Idriess Sydney 1937” … a further note March 1, 1937 in Idriess hand bottom left of title.

Australian pearling essential early edition signed and annotated by author.

$180.00

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Man Tracks [With the Mounted Police in Australian Wilds] – Ion Idriess

Published by Angus & Robertson 1936, a ninth edition issued one year after the first. The copy of Chicago resident, Idriess friend and admirer, Frances Van Cleef with a note indicating she acquired it in Melbourne on Feb 16, 1937.

Very good condition, a couple of chips to the dust jacket, very clean and tight internally. A super copy.

An impressive Idriess book about the Australian Mounted Police up through the Centre, the North and West. Many lively accounts recounted in the normal Idriess way. The photography in this book is special with a number of unique aboriginal images.

Real Crime solved by Australian Police on Horseback

$80.00

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The Birds of Australia in 3 Volumes [the S.A. White Facsimile] -Gregory Mathews

A numbered limited facsimile edition of the complete work in three volumes, reproduced faithfully without alteration or correction. Published in South Australia by State Publishing. The original published in 1910-1927 by Witherby & Co, London. Regarded as the last great bird plate book relating to Australia with the consequential accuracy in form and description.

Folio on quality paper so rather heavy. Printed by offset lithography and bound in half grey polished leather. Published in 1989 based on a set held in the S.A. White Collection. Fine condition.

Unpaginated but 182 pages each. A total of 105 full-page colour plates. 500 sets were produced. Getting hard to find and here sold at an attractive price.

Mathews and his Birds of Australia.

$340.00

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George Bass 1771-1803: His Discoveries, Romantic Life and Tragic Disappearance – Keith Bowden – First Edition 1952

A very good first edition of this well researched and written book on Bass.

Published by the Oxford University Press Melbourne in 1952. Octavo, 171 pages with illustrations and a fine dust jacket.

The author Keith Macrae Bowden was the author of the official Australian Dictionary of Biography re Bass and therefore holds a certain authority on the subject explorer.

After various introduction we have a family history and the first naval activity on HMS Shark and HMS Reliance. Off to Australia and the exploratory adventures on the Tom Thumb before a trip to South Africa. Time in Port Jackson and the discovery of coal before the “Discovery of the Bass Strait” and the final whale boat voyage. Plans for a fortune and his Pacific voyages and on to South America and his disputable fate.

Nice appendices on the Tom Thumb; Source of Information and a succinct listing of the subjects achievements.

George Bass a fairly full life

$50.00

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Wealth in the Wilderness – Arthur Groom – First edition 1955

A first edition of Arthur Groom’s final travel book in the outback of Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Published by Angus and Robertson, Sydney in 1955. Octavo, 198 pages, end paper maps and illustrated throughout from photographs taken along the way by the author.

The end paper maps are the best reference to the progress and extent of his journey all undertaken in a period utility of low horse power. A charming narrative that keeps the readers interest with many relevant illustrations.

Arthur Groom out in the outback one last time.

$25.00

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Disturbing Element [An Autobiography] – Xavier Herbert – First Edition 1963

A very nice first edition copy of Australian writer Xavier Herbert’s autobiography.

Born in 1901 Xavier Herbert had a rather strange upbringing. He trained as a Pharmacist having worked in a chemist’s shop at the age of 14. He went to Melbourne to study medicine. Writing was a passion but he was in his thirties before his great work “Capricornia” was published to great acclaim. He was much admired by HG Wells.

Xavier Herbert was the “Disturbing Element’. Published by F.W. Cheshire, Melbourne etc in 1963. Octavo, 271 pages, a very good if not better copy.

Xavier Herbert published few works and his final novel “Poor Fellow My Country” was published in 1975 and won him the Miles Franklin award. It is also the longest novel ever published by an Australian writer at 1,466 pages and an estimated 852 thousand words

Interesting autobiography of the elusive talented Xavier Herbert.

$30.00

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Forty Fathoms Deep – Ion Idriess – Signed Annotated 1937 Edition

Man Tracks [With the Mounted Police in Australian Wilds] – Ion Idriess

The Birds of Australia in 3 Volumes [the S.A. White Facsimile] -Gregory Mathews

George Bass 1771-1803: His Discoveries, Romantic Life and Tragic Disappearance – Keith Bowden – First Edition 1952

Wealth in the Wilderness – Arthur Groom – First edition 1955

Disturbing Element [An Autobiography] – Xavier Herbert – First Edition 1963

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