‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’ 1910 – 1914 , The Pastoralists Review … Part 2, Vol. G to M.

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Arthur John Staughton, Glenormiston, Hugh Strahorn, Keayang, Killarney, Lincoln sheep, Linton, Merrang, Middlefield, Mount Talbot, O. H. Carter, Pastoral Homes of Australia, Pastoralists Review, Rear Admiral A.W. Carter, Robert Hood, Shearers, Thunderbolt, Western District, Wiliam Frederick Buchanan, William Officer

Part 2 of The Pastoral Homes of Australia, 1910 -1914, Volume G to M, with a selection of some of the beautiful properties that feature in this volume. Pictured below is the homestead at Glenormiston, Victoria then owned by Steuart (sic) Gladstone Black. ‘The famous Glenormiston butter factory is situated close to the gate leading into the Glenormiston Estate. The factory turns out one of the best brands of Victorian butter at an average rate during December of about 3 tons per day. The factory itself is an up-to-date establishment . It is built of bluestone, which besides being solid, keeps remarkably cool in summer.’

Glenormiston homestead, Victoria, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

 The charming picture below of girls bottle feeding orphaned lambs is at the Linton estate in New South Wales, then owned by O.H. Carter and Rear Admiral A. W. Carter. ‘It was here the famous bushranger “Thunderbolt”, spent some time before launching out on his deeds of outlawry, being employed on Ironbark Station breaking in horses prior to 1866. He never interfered with any residents thereabout, although he kept a supply of horses at Bullseye Creek, near where the present Linton homestead stands.’

Linton, New South Wales, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

 An unusual subject for these Volumes is pictured below – that of outdoor cooking for the shearers and shed Hands at Middlefield, New South Wales, then owned by Hugh Strahorn. The property comprised about 50,000 acres with a flock of about 8,000 pure Merino sheep.

Shearers and Shed Hands Cook, Middlefield, New South Wales, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

  The shearing shed of the Killarney estate, New South Wales is  pictured below, then the property of William Frederick Buchanan.‘The woolshed is without doubt one of the most notable in the State…Mr Buchanan designed it himself…all the timber used in its construction was cut on the estate. The shed is 350 feet long and 60 feet wide, and is supported on piles 8 feet from the ground. In addition, and under the same roof, there is a large wool-scouring room measuring 80 feet by 80 feet…The shed is fitted with sixty stands of Wolseley machines…A feature of the Killarney shed is the travelling belt running down the centre of the board carrying all the fleeces from the shearers into the wool-room.’

Shearing shed at Killarney estate, New South Wales, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 -1914.

Pictured below is ‘Milking Time’ at Keayang near Terang, Victoria, then owned by Arthur John Staughton and partly tenanted by a number of dairy farmers. In 1901 a pure Lincoln sheep stud was established at the property. ‘One of the methods adopted by Mr Staughton for increasing the carrying capacity of his property has been in planting English grasses. Among the most successful of these has been the English rye grass and meadow foxtail, which grow profusely on the flats and give a delightful tinge of green to the landscape at seasons when the natural pasturage is mostly burnt and brown.’

Milking at Keayang, Victoria, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

 The Merrang estate near Hexham, Victoria then owned by Robert Hood comprised about 12,700 acres of which 3,000 acres were leased to farmers with 13,000 sheep kept on the rest. Mr Hood’s father had established a Lincoln sheep stud in 1872 ‘he decided to go to the very fountainhead of Lincoln purity and excellence, so sent to England for a large shipment . Eleven rams were imported from the famous studs of Messrs. Marshall and Kirkham, of Lincolnshire and thirty three ewes were obtained from the same sources.’

Homestead at Merrang, Victoria, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

Pictured below is the Engine-Room and Workshop at  Mount Talbot estate, Victoria then owned by William Officer and comprising about 14,000 acres with about 11,000 Merino sheep shorn annually. ‘Mount Talbot was among the first properties on which shearing was done by machinery. It being twenty years ago since the blade shears were last used there.’

Engine-Room, Mount Talbot, Victoria,’Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

Cover, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

 

‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’ 1910 – 1914 by the Pastoralists Review … Part 1 – Volume A to F.

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Avalon, Baroona, Bexley, Binnia Downs, Boisdale Cheese Factory, Caramut House, Darr River Downs, Dunrobin, Pastoral Homes of Australia, Pastoralists Review

Pastoral Homes of Australia was published between 1910 and 1914 and provides the most wonderful record of many of the grandest and largest properties in Australia at the time. Full of pictures of their homes and interiors, gardens, family and staff, livestock, outbuildings, machinery and beautiful views of the land. Each property’s history, the owner’s personal histories and their livestock are all described in detail.

House at Baroona,’Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

Above is the house at Baroona, New South Wales then owned by Albert Augustus Dangar breeder of Arab and Suffolk Punch horses ‘In 1869 when in England, Mr Dangar purchased the pure Arab stallion Farhân for 500 guineas. This handsome animal – a pure bred Arabian,  a bright bay in colour, with black points – was bred in the Syrian Desert, near Aleppo, by Sheik el Mesrab.’

‘The Avalon Cultivations – Ploughing with Traction Engine – Breaking up virgin soil with three sets of seven-disc ploughs, making 21 furrows in all.’ ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 -1914.

Avalon, Victoria then owned by Frank Austin – well known for their Merino sheep which won 154 prizes between 1892 and 1908 at Annual Shows of the Australian Sheepbreeders’ Association.

‘Mob of 2,400 Bexley Cattle en route for Dunrobin’, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

Bexley and Dunrobin  stations mentioned above were then owned by Edward Goddard Blume who also owned a number of other vast Queensland properties.

The Cheese Factory and Store Room at the Boisdale Estate, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

Above and below are pictures of the Boisdale Cheese and Butter Factory. The Boisdale Estate, Victoria was then owned by the Foster Bros who ‘are really pioneers of the dairying industry so far as their locality is concerned. Besides turning over the whole of their property to that business, they have spent a considerable sum of money in establishing an up-to-date butter and cheese factory at Boisdale. This is on their own property , and is of the greatest assistance to the tenants, being so near to the holdings that the milk and cream can be carted at a minimum of labour and expense.’ The 10,000 acre property had been subdivided and at that time was leased to 35 farmers.

‘A Busy Morning at the Factory’, Boisdale, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

Page from ‘Binnia Downs and Bundella Estates, New South Wales’, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

Binnia Downs, New South Wales then owned by John McMaster comprised 40,000 acres of freehold and leasehold land and a flock of 27,000 Merino sheep. (Note the toy bear on wheels between the two girls).

‘Putting Down an Artesian Bore 32 Miles from Homestead’, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

The artesian bore pictured above is at Darr River Downs, Queensland then owned by Messrs. Coleman and Watt and comprised 51,557 acres freehold and 330,000 acres leasehold.

‘Young Motorists – the son and daughter of Mr and Mrs E. de Little’, ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914.

Pictured above are the children of Mr and Mrs Ernest de Little then owners of Caramut House, Victoria the homestead being described as ‘one of the most charming of Western Victoria. The residence has been built on a rise, round which a creek twists through rich alluvial flats. The building itself is of bluestone in one story… with large, airy rooms, wide verandahs, and long windows.’

Spine and Cover ‘Pastoral Homes of Australia’, 1910 – 1914 with later binding.

First British Edition of ‘Bracebridge Hall by Geoffrey Crayon’, by Washington Irving, 1822.

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Aston Hall, Bracebridge Hall, The Stout Gentleman, Thuxton, Washington Irving

Bracebridge Hall or, The Humorists by brilliant American author Washington Irving (1783 – 1859) was first published in Britain by John Murray, London in 1822 using the pseudonym of Geoffrey Crayon for the second time. Written whilst travelling through England and France and following on from the very successful Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, the book was issued in 2 volumes and contains 51 short stories. Bound in half calf with marbled boards, Irving appears as the author on the spine, but the thin leather has become partially detached revealing underneath Crayon on the original binding.

Cover and spine, Bracebridge Hall, 1822.

The name of an earlier owner – A.A. Alpes of Thuxton Rectory appears opposite the title-page. Thuxton is a small village in Norfolk, England.

A.A. Alpes, Bracebridge Hall, 1822.

Irving’s Sketchbook was featured in my August 17th post together with a brief account of his career.  Aston Hall, Birmingham, England was the inspiration for the fictional Bracebridge Hall.

Title-page, Bracebridge Hall,1822.

The book was well received and a success, one of the book’s most popular stories was the witty and observant The Stout Gentleman at page 112.

Contents page Vol.1, Bracebridge Hall, 1822. List of Contents continues on the verso.

Confined to a country inn for the day due to rain and recuperating from a minor illness, the author becomes  increasingly bored and frustrated by all about him until –

I heard the voice of a waiter at the bar ‘The stout gentleman in No. 13, wants his breakfast. Tea and bread and butter, with ham and eggs’…In such a situation as mine every incident is of importance…Had the guest upstairs been mentioned as Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown…or merely as ‘the gentleman in No.13’ it would have been a perfect blank to me. I should have thought nothing of it; but ‘The Stout Gentleman!’ – the very name had something in it of the picturesque. It at once gave the size; it embodied the personage to my mind’s eye, and my fancy did the rest. p.119

Page 112, Bracebridge Hall, 1822.

Desperately hoping to at least get a look at the gentleman as various comments from servants and observations have fired his imagination and relieved his boredom – he at last has an opportunity when hearing the gentleman leave early the next day –

I sprang out of bed, scrambled to the window, snatched aside the curtains, and just caught a glimpse of the rear of a person getting in at the coach-door. The skirts of a brown coat parted behind, and gave me a full view of the broad disk of a pair of drab breeches…and that was all I ever saw of the stout gentleman! p.133

Contents page of Vol.2, Bracebridge Hall,1822, List of Contents continues on the verso.

Second edition of Captain James Cook’s First Voyage in the Endeavour by John Hawkesworth, 1773, London (Volume 3 only)

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Australia, Captain James Cook, Endeavour, John Hawkesworth, Joseph Banks, Lincoln's Inn, New Zealand, Sydney Parkinson

This book is the second edition published two months after the first edition and contains the first official account by John Hawkesworth (1715 – 1773) of Captain James Cook’s discovery of  the east coast of Australia in 1770 and the first circumnavigation and mapping of New Zealand. The full title being An Account of the Voyages undertaken by the order of his present Majesty for making Discoveries in the Southern Hemisphere and successively performed by Commodore Byron, Captain Wallis, Captain Carteret and Captain Cook in the Dolphin , the Swallow and the Endeavour, printed in 1773 in 3 volumes.

Title-page ‘An Account of the Voyages…’, Hawkesworth, 1773.

Unfortunately I only have Volume 3, however Volume 1 contains the Voyages of Carteret and Byron and that of Carteret and Wallis. Volumes 2 and 3 contain Cook’s Endeavour Voyage. Volume 3 commences in February 1770 during their mapping of New Zealand and records the first sighting of the east coast of Australia and their return to England in 1771.

John Hawkesworth was commissioned by the British Admiralty to write an account of these voyages and permitted to re-tell the events in the first person. It has been acknowledged that it contains  inaccuracies and Cook himself was not pleased with the result, but the book still proved very popular.

There is the remnant of a bookplate that might be from the library of Lincoln’s Inn –  a society of lawyers in central London dating back to the 14th Century. Their library has a collection of rare books and manuscripts not all law related.

A scrap remaining from the bookplate of Lincolns Inn ?

James Cook (1728 – 1779) was born in Yorkshire, England and began his career in the merchant navy joining the Royal Navy in 1755. Cook was appointed  commander of a voyage of exploration to sail to Tahiti to observe and record the transit of Venus across the Sun and then to open sealed orders instructing him to search for Terra Australis – the southern continent. The Endeavour sailed from England in 1768  those on board included botanist Joseph Banks (1743 – 1820) travelling at his own expense and artists Sydney Parkinson (1745 – 1771) and Alexander Buchan.

The page below records the first sighting of the Australian east coast on 19th April 1770 giving ‘it the name Point Hicks, because Mr. Hicks, the first lieutenant, was the first who discovered it’. Point Hicks is located on the east coast of the state of Victoria.

Page 79, ‘An Account of the Voyages…’, Hawkesworth, 1773.

The first place they were able to land safely was at Botany Bay (originally named Stingray Bay) near the entrance to present day Sydney Harbour. They continued to sail north mapping the Australian east coast until the Endeavour struck the Great Barrier Reef in June 1770 ‘we had too much reason to conclude that we were upon a rock of coral, which is more fatal than any other, because the points of it are sharp, and every part of the surface so rough as to grind away whatever is rubbed against it‘. p. 141.

The Endeavour was badly damaged and taking on water  ‘It was however impossible long to continue the labour by which the pumps had been made to gain upon the leak, and as the exact situation of it could not be discovered, we had no hope of stopping it within. In this situation, Mr Monkhouse, one of my midshipmen, came to me and proposed an expedient that he had once seen used on board a merchant ship…To this man, therefore, the care of the expedient, which is called fothering the ship, was immediately committed’ p.147.

Monkhouse’s ‘fothering’ involved stitching large quantities of old rope fibres known as oakham and wool onto a sail which was then placed against the hole in the ship ‘by the success of this expedient our leak was so far reduced, that instead of gaining upon three pumps, it was easily kept under with one.’ p.148.

Cook then had sufficient time to find a suitable place near present day Cooktown at the mouth of the Endeavour River to carry out the extensive repairs.

Plate 20, engraving from a drawing of a kangaroo by Sydney Parkinson.

Cook describes his first sighting of a kangaroo during the time ashore repairing the Endeavour ‘it was of a light mouse colour, and in size and shape very much resembling a greyhound; and I should have taken it for a wild dog, if instead of running, it had not leapt like a hare or deer‘ p.157.

‘Chart of part of the Coast…from Cape Tribulation to Endeavour Straits by Lieut. J. Cook, 1770’.

Leaving Endeavour River in August 1770, they continued to sail in a northerly direction mapping the coastline arriving at Batavia (present day Jakarta, Indonesia) in October.

‘A Chart of New South Wales or the East Coast of New Holland…’

Tragically during their stay in Batavia for refit and repairs most of the crew contracted malaria and dysentery with more than a third dying including the artist Sydney Parkinson and Lieutenant Hicks. After a voyage of almost 3 years they arrived in England in July 1771 with a wealth of information gained about the people, plants, animals and places visited.

Captain James Cook is remembered as one of the great explorers, navigators and cartographers.

 The half leather binding and marbled paper boards are extremely worn.

Spine and Cover ‘Voyages..’ Hawkesworth,1773.

‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’ by T.E. Lawrence also known as Lawrence of Arabia, published by Jonathan Cape, London,1935.

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Arab Revolt, First World War, Ottoman Empire, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, T.E. Lawrence

Famous for his role in the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War Seven Pillars of Wisdom is T. E. (Thomas Edward) Lawrence’s (1888 – 1935) account of his extraordinary experiences. His introduction explains…

‘Mr. Geoffrey Dawson persuaded All Souls College to give me leisure , in 1919 – 1920 , to write about the Arab Revolt . Sir Herbert Baker let me live and work in his Westminster houses…It does not pretend to be impartial . I was fighting for my hand, upon my own midden. Please take it as a personal narrative pieced out of memory. I could not make proper notes: indeed it would have been a breach of my duty to the Arabs if I had picked such flowers as they fought.’

T.E. Lawrence painted by Augustus John, from ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’, 1935.

Lawrence was born in Wales, completed a first class bachelors degree at Oxford and from 1910 travelled frequently to the Middle East working as an archaeologist. He became fluent in a number of languages including Arabic and Turkish and learned and adopted the local customs.

The title, taken from the Book of Proverbs 9:1 ‘Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars’ was originally intended for a book Lawrence was writing about seven great cities in the Middle East. The book was never completed due to the outbreak of the First World War.

Title page, ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’, 1935.

Lawrence’s extensive knowledge of languages and the Middle East resulted in his posting to Cairo working for British Intelligence. The Arab Bureau of the British Foreign Office perceived benefits to be obtained by uniting Arab troops against the Ottoman forces occupying the Middle East.

In his Introduction to Chapters 1 to 7 Lawrence writes:

‘Some Englishmen, of whom Kitchener was chief, believed that a rebellion of Arabs against Turks would enable England, while fighting Germany, simultaneously to defeat her ally Turkey.’

Lawrence and the main Arab leader Emir Feisal (also Faisal, later King of Iraq) worked closely planning and undertaking guerrilla operations that led to the capture of the strategic port of Aqaba in 1917 and  later the fall of Damascus in 1918. One of Lawrence’s goals had been to assist the Arabs achieve self-government.

Page 126, ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’, 1935.

On the above page Lawrence writes of his adoption of Arab dress –

Suddenly Feisal asked me if I would wear Arab clothes like his own while in the camp. I should find it better for my own part, since it was a comfortable dress in which to live Arab-fashion as we must do. Besides, the tribesmen would then understand how to take me… I agreed at once, very gladly; for army uniform was abominable when camel-riding or when sitting about on the ground.

Printing details on verso of the title-page, ‘Seven Pillars of Wisdom’, 1935.

In 1922 Lawrence published eight copies of Seven Pillars and in 1926 an abridged Subscribers edition of about 200 copies with an elaborate binding was printed. The losses incurred on this second printing forced Lawrence to publish a version for the general public in 1927 which was greatly abridged and re-titled Revolt in the Desert.  Lawrence had declared that no further issue of Seven Pillars would be published during his lifetime. Within weeks of his death in a motorcycle accident in 1935 the longer 1926 version was published for general circulation.

Spine and cover ,’Seven Pillars of Wisdom’,1935. The cover shows two scimitars and the words ‘the sword also means clean-ness and death’.

‘I deem him one of the greatest beings alive in our time…We shall never see his like again. His name will live in history. It will live in the annals of war… It will live in the legends of Arabia’.  Winston Churchill.

 –

‘In Lucy’s Garden’ by Florence E. Dugdale (later the 2nd Mrs Thomas Hardy), c.1912, illustrated by John Campbell.

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Dorset, England, Florence E Dugdale, John Campbell, Lawrence of Arabia, Max Gate, T.E. Lawrence, Thomas Hardy

English author Florence Emily Dugdale (1879 – 1937) wrote this charming childrens’ book In Lucy’s Garden c. 1912 , beautifully illustrated by John Campbell and published by Henry Frowde & Hodder & Stoughton, London.

Cover – ‘In Lucy’s Garden’, c. 1912.

The pink cloth boards are very worn and faded with an impressed area where a colour illustration has been placed. The numerous trees, flowers and insects in Lucy’s garden are charmingly described and brought to life conversing amongst themselves. In the second half of the book Lucy meets a young friend with whom she can share the wonders of the garden.

Title page – ‘In Lucy’s Garden’, c.1912.

Florence Dugdale was born in London, qualified as a teacher and published her first book The Book of Baby Birds in 1912. She met  English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy (1840 -1928) author of Far from the Madding Crowd (1874) in 1905, later becoming his assistant and marriage followed in 1914 after the death of his first wife. They lived at Hardy’s home Max Gate, Dorchester, Dorset now owned by the National Trust. From 1923 a frequent visitor to Max Gate was T.E. Lawrence (1888 – 1935) also known as Lawrence of Arabia. He became a great friend of the Hardy’s with Florence describing him as ‘the most marvellous human being I have ever met. It is not his exploits in Arabia that attract me, nor the fact that he is a celebrity: it is his character that is so splendid’. My next post will feature Lawrence’s book Seven Pillars of Wisdom.

‘Well-behaved cats never put their paws on the table’, ‘In Lucy’s Garden’, c. 1912.

There are five coloured plates and vignettes appear at the start of each chapter and throughout the book. Lucy and her friend search for fairies in the garden, she writes them letters and one night dreams of fairies in the chapter Princess Starlight and Mr Toad.

Page 131 – ‘In Lucy’s Garden’, c. 1912.

‘When the summer time came and the days were warm and bright, Lucy loved to sit with her dolls, her books and her needlework, in one shady corner of her garden. Here there was soft green grass, under twisted old apple-trees whose green leaves made a pleasant shade.’ p. 37, ‘In Lucy’s Garden’.

Maps and Plans Illustrative of Herodotus, Thucydides and Livy, 1825 … with the bookplate of Professor William Ramsay, University of Glasgow.

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Herodotus, J. Vincent, Livy, Oxford, Thucydides, Trinity College Cambridge, University of Glasgow, William Ramsay

Bound together in one volume are several separate works – Maps and Plans Illustrative of Herodotus, Thucydides and Livy together with tables and supplements, all published c. 1825 by J. Vincent of Oxford.

‘Maps and Plans Illustrative of Herodotus’

Below is the wonderful map of The World according to the ancient Greek Historian Herodotus (c. 484 – c. 425 BC)  famous for his work The Histories and generally considered The Father of History.

‘The World According to Herodotus’ pub. J Vincent, 1825.

The book contains the armorial  bookplate of the original owner William Ramsay (1806 – 1865) who was Professor of Humanity at the University of Glasgow, Scotland from 1831 to 1863. Born in Edinburgh, he graduated from Trinity College Cambridge and went on to publish a number of books including A Manual of Roman Antiquities (1851) and A Manual of Latin Prosody (1838). Ramsay was considered at the time to be amongst the highest ranking academics in Scotland. He was also one of the first amateur photographers.

Bookplate of William Ramsay (1806 -1865), University of Glasgow.

The beautiful marbled endpapers also bear the small label of J. Carrs & Co., Bookbinders, 31 Argyll Street, Glasgow.

Ramsay’s Latin motto reads Spernit Pericula Virtus – valour despises dangers. This motto together with the unicorn’s head also appear at the top of the spine of the book, see below.

Spine and cover of ‘Maps and Plans…’

Thucydides (c. 460 – c. 400 BC) was a Greek Historian and Athenian General, a 1723 edition of his history of the Peloponnesian War (Grecian War) is featured in my July 13th post.

‘Maps and Plans Illustrative of Thucydides’

Titus Livius Patavinus (59 BC – 17 AD) was a Roman Historian known as Livy. Ramsay has written his name and the date of  1827 in this publication which was during his time studying at Trinity College, Cambridge.

‘Maps and Plans Illustrative of Livy’, pub. J Vincent,Oxford c. 1825.

This publication includes 20 engraved maps and illustrations depicting excerpts from Livy’s works.

‘Passage of the Rhone’ ,Livy, depicting the positions of Hannibal and the Gauls.

‘Field and Hedgerow’ by Richard Jefferies, 1897 … with a charming bookplate.

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Aberdeenshire, Bookplate, Margaret Dora Duguid, Richard Jefferies, The Old House at Coate

 First published in 1889 – Field and Hedgerow comprises the last essays of Richard Jefferies (1848 – 1887) collected by his widow, with this edition published in 1897 by Longmans, Green and Co.

The book contains the delightful bookplate of the original owner Scottish artist Margaret Dora Duguid (d. 1936) mentioned in biographies of artists as a ‘Little-known Aberdeenshire painter of local landscapes who showed at the Aberdeen Artists’ Society‘.

Bookplate of Margaret Dora Duguid

Inscription to Margaret Dora Duguid

Several of Dora’s books are on the shelves each with her bookplate, including an 1898 edition of The Story of My Heart  also by Jefferies and bears the same inscription and date of 19th May 1903. Both books have the tiny label of William Jackson, Bookbinder, Aberdeen.

Richard Jefferies, frontispiece – ‘Field and Hedgerow’

Born in Wiltshire, England, Richard Jefferies wrote a number of essays and books inspired by his passionate  love of nature in particular the English countryside and included the classic children’s book Bevis (1882) – later illustrated by Winnie the Pooh illustrator E.H. Shepard. Jefferies birthplace ‘The Old House at Coate’, Swindon is now a museum dedicated to his life and works.

The long-lived summer days dried and warmed the turf in the meadows. I used to lie down in solitary corners at full length on my back, so as to feel the embrace of the earth. The grass stood high above me, and the shadows of the tree-branches danced on my face. p. 13 The Story of My Heart, Richard Jefferies, 1898 edition.

Title-page – ‘Field and Hedgerow’

As Dora was a landscape artist, it seems fitting to include the following quote:

The light is never the same on a landscape many minutes together, as all know who have tried, ever so crudely, to fix the fleeting expression of the earth with pencil. It is ever changing, and in the same way as you walk by the hedges day by day there is always some fresh circumstance of nature, the interest of which in a measure blots out the past. p. 115, Field and Hedgerow, 1897.

An English Deer-Park – ‘Field and Hedgerow’

Spine and cover – ‘Field and Hedgerow’, 1897

‘A Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria’, From the Journals and Letters of William John Wills, 1863.

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Australia, Burke & Wills, Dig Tree, Gulf of Carpentaria, James Grahan Goodenough, Robert O'Hara Burke, Royal Navy, William John Wills

William John Wills (1834 – 1861) together with Robert O’Hara Burke (1821 – 1861) led perhaps the most famous Australian inland expedition and were the first to successfully cross the continent in 1861 from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north.

Folding map of Australia from ‘A Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia …’,William John Wills, 1863. Shown in red is the route taken by Burke and Wills.

Both Burke and Wills died on the return journey in June 1861. Fortunately Wills had buried his journals for safe-keeping on 30th May 1861 at their base at Cooper’s Creek near the Coolibah tree that became known as the Dig Tree, now a heritage-listed site.

Named the Dig Tree, as one of the three separate markings on the tree contained the word Dig which had been carved by members of the party led by William Brahe to indicate that supplies had been buried there. Brahe’s party had waited 18 weeks for Burke and Wills to return from the Gulf and tragically left only hours before they arrived.

This first edition A Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria was compiled from the journals and letters of Wills, edited by his father William Wills and published by Richard Bentley, London in 1863.

Title page from ‘A Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia…’, William John Wills, 1863.

Cover and Spine – ‘A Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia…’, William John Wills, 1863.

Of the four who reached the Gulf, only John King who was helped by local aborigines survived, returning to Melbourne after being rescued by one of the relief expeditions.

Frontispiece from ‘A Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia…’, William John Wills, 1863.

Subsequent investigations found a number of factors had contributed to the lives lost on the expedition.

Page 216 – Burke, Wills, Gray and King commence the trip south, from ‘A Successful Exploration through the Interior of Australia…’ William John Wills, 1863.

The book’s endpapers contain the bookplate of the original owner James Graham Goodenough R.N. (1830 – 1875). James Goodenough was born in England and joined the Royal Navy when he was 14.

Bookplate of James Graham Goodenough R.N.

In a remarkable naval career Goodenough served in the Baltic during the Crimean War, served as an observer of the American Civil War gathering information about shipping and was appointed Commodore of the Australian Station of the Royal Navy in 1873 with HMS Pearl his flagship. His duties included maintaining law and order among British subjects in the Pacific Islands and in their relations with indigenous people. In 1875 whilst attempting to communicate with natives in the Santa Cruz Islands Goodenough and several others were wounded by arrows, tetanus set in and he died at sea 8 days later. He was buried in the cemetery of St Thomas’s Church, North Sydney which has a stained glass window in his memory. An Island and Bay in Papua New Guinea were named after him.

Remembered as a great humanitarian – he was always interested in improving the education and welfare of his men. He established the ‘Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Institute’, worked with his wife for the French Peasant Relief Fund and assisted war refugees from the Franco-Prussian War. Following his death a public subscription raised money for the building in 1876 of the Goodenough Royal Naval House in Sydney which continued his welfare work for naval personnel.

First British Edition of ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.’ by Washington Irving, 1820.

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Charles Joseph La Trobe, George Washington, Gotham, Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Rip Van Winkle, The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon Gent., United States, Washington Irving

Washington Irving (1783 – 1859) – the brilliant American author, biographer, historian and diplomat was best known for his short stories particularly The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle which appear in this book. Published in 1820 the British edition of The Sketch Book contains 32 short stories (editions after 1848 have 34) with Irving using Geoffrey Crayon – one of his many pseudonyms, for the first time.

The stories were first published in America in instalments but due to lack of effective international copyright laws British magazines were able to publish the stories without permission. A British publisher was quickly found to secure Irving’s British copyright, with his friend Sir Walter Scott recommending his own publisher John Murray, Albemarle Street, London. The two volumes were published by John Murray several months apart and must be the reason for the font differing between each volume – see below the Contents pages for Volumes 1 and 2.

Cover and spine of Washington Irving’s ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.’ , 1820 – with the actual author’s name on the spine. Bound in half calf with marbled boards.

Born in Manhattan, New York City at the end of the American War of Independence he was named after its hero George Washington. Irving was already a successful writer in New York before arriving in England in 1815 – continuing to travel and write in England and Europe for the next 17 years.

Title Page – ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.’, 1820.

The immense popularity of the book in England and Europe resulted in Irving being the first American writer to achieve international literary success.

Contents page of Volume 1 of ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.’, 1820.

Irving was the first to use Gotham (from the Anglo-Saxon – Goat’s Town) as another name for New York City in satirical articles he wrote in 1807 for the magazine he co-founded – Salmagundi.

Contents page of Volume 2 of ‘The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent.’, 1820.

In the late 1820s Irving travelled to Spain where he studied Spanish history writing a number of books including A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus and Tales of the Alhambra.

Returning to America in 1832 Irving travelled with the U.S. Commissioner of Indian Affairs on a surveying mission from New Orleans to Mexico, one of the companions on this trip was Charles Joseph La Trobe (1801 – 1875) later to become first lieutenant-governor of the colony of Victoria, Australia.

Irving served as U.S. ambassador to Spain from 1842 – 1846, returning permanently to the United States in 1846 and  finishing his last book the 5 volume The Life of George Washington shortly before his death.