National Library of Australia - Gateways>

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 50| April 2001


Recent Australiana Acquisitions

Kangaroo

M.A. Koekkoek. Uit in de Australische dierenweld
Poster: chromolithograph on linen backed paper; 745 x 1040 cm. Pictorial Collection

 

Over the last six months the National Library has acquired some interesting and valuable additions for its collections.

Early Australiana
A valuable item of early Australiana was Names and Descriptions of All Male and Female Convicts Arrived in the Colony of New South Wales During the Year 1830 (Sydney: Sydney Gazette Office, 1831). This 1830 volume fills a gap in the Library’s holdings of these registers. Another two items purchased were an early work of fiction by Iota (Mrs Meredith) Kooroona: A Tale of South Australia (Oxford: A.R. Mowbray; London: Simpkin, Marshall & Co. 1871). This is an extremely rare first edition of this pastoral romance set in South Australian squatting districts. An interesting point to note is that the author is not Kathleen Caffyn, who also used the ‘Iota’ pseudonym, but has been identified by de Pasquale from an 1882 South Australian newspaper reference as ‘Mrs Meredith’. The second item was a work by Ada Cambridge, Hymns on the Holy Communion (London: Houlston and Wright, 1866). A rare first edition of this early collection of religious verse by Ada Cambridge, published in London before her marriage and emigration to Australia, where she began to produce her now highly regarded works of fiction and verse.

Two significant items relating to the botanical history of Australia were purchased. These were Joachim F. Schouw’s works, Pflanzengeographischer Atlas zur Erlauterung von Schouws Grundzugen einer allgemeinen Pflanzengeographie (Berlin: G. Reimer, 1823) and Grundzuge einer allgemeinen Pflanzengeographie (Berlin: G. Reimer, 1823). The atlas is a rare work which includes some of the earliest details on proteas from Australia. The text volume is an accompaniment to the Atlas. A natural history item of some interest is Achille Comte’s Musee d’Histoire Naturelle comprenant La Cosmographie—La Geologie—La Zoologie—La Botanique (Paris: Gustave Havard, 1854). This is a French natural history encyclopaedia providing detailed studies of different classes of animal, with marsupials being described in some detail.

Some other interesting Australiana include Captain John Eldred Mott’s Experiences and Narrow Escapes of Capt. J.E. Mott (London: Cheswick Press, 1917). This item describes Captain Mott’s experiences as a prisoner of war in Germany in 1917 and his subsequent escape. Only two copies of this particular edition were printed.

[Shores Royal Menagerie] Just Arrived and Not to Be Equalled in the World printed broadside, (Snowhill: Turner, c.1820s) is one of the earliest references to a collection of live Australian birds in Europe. Shore lists ‘Cockatoos, Paroquets, Lori and Loricates, (Botany Bay Birds)’. A. Cordier’s Amusing Alphabet: Le Jardin d’Acclimation, the Zoological Garden (Paris: H. Plon, c.1870) is an interesting fold-out panorama with a zoological theme—it depicts a kangaroo with four offspring.

Children’s Australiana
Three early European imprints for children, depicting Australian animals and bush scenes were purchased. These were M.A. Koekkoek, Uit in de Australische dierenweld (Anvers. Aug. Bossaerts, c. 1890). This is a chromolithograph schoolroom wall-hanging. The item is an excellent example of the way in which the image of the Australian bush was presented to the rest of the world via the classrooms. It depicts kangaroos, cockatoos, an emu and a platypus amidst the grass trees, grevillias and eucalypts of the open forest. M. Breton’s Les Savants de quinze ans 2v. (Paris: Lepetit and Blanchard, 1811) is a first edition, with a kangaroo after Stubbs, with five joeys. W. Hagelberg’s Atlas-Manuel Zoologique (Paris: chez l’editeur, c.1890) is a scarce children’s bird zoology including a number of Australian species.

Travel Posters
The Library was able to acquire two travel posters to further add to the Library’s collection. These were Eileen Mayo Sturts Desert Pea (c.1956). and Gert Sellheim Australia (c.1957). both Australian National Travel Association posters. Eileen Mayo was one of very few women artists commissioned by the Australian National Travel Association to produce posters and was not previously represented in the Library’s collection. Both of these posters are visually stunning, Sellheim’s Australia depicting a wonderful image of a boomerang.

Ephemera
An interesting piece of ephemera relating to the performing arts was also added to the Library’s extensive material in this area. This is a silk program for a Royal Opera performance featuring Dame Nellie Melba as Juliette on 26 June 1911 at Covent Garden. The state performance was by Royal command in honour of the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary.
—Ros McDonald

| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |

Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au

Gateways logo