We have a good range of material this auction. We have more from the Ion Idriess estate, mining items, Australian history, Australian literature, as well as military and sporting books.

As we have seen in previous sales Idriess kept everything, from his research materials to objects he collected in his travels and this auction will be no different. We have everything from his mining technical books, books on water and Australia and more impressively two axes!  (Lot 241)  

The mining books included are:  Mining Metallurgy 1867. The Mining and Metallurgy of Gold and Silver by John Arthur Phillips (Lot 68); Mineral Resources of Western Australia 1932 (Lot 604); New South Wales Prospecting 1931(Lot 606); and rarely seen West Darling District Geology (Lot 614).

There are plenty of good Australian History books including a copy of Hunter’s Journal 1793 which is an Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island, with the Discoveries which have been made in New South Wales and in the Southern Ocean, since the publication of Phillip’s Voyage (Lot 84). Further we will have An Historical and Statistical Account of New South Wales: both as a Penal Settlement and as a British Colony by John Dunmore Lang (Lot 247)

For those who love Australian literature we have a reasonable collection of Australian authors. Some first edition and some signed by authors such as Tim Winton (Lot 121), David Malouf (Lots 102), Thea Ashley (Lot 126), and Frank Moorhouse (123).

Some rare military items make an appearance this auction:   Military Postcards (Lot 161); Wellington Mounted Rifles WW1 (Lot 352); 2nd Battalion 1st & 4th Trench Mortars (Lot 353); and Butler Army Medical Services (Lot 139).

For the sports fanatics we have things for you: 1852 Rowing Cambridge (Lot 1); Australian Cycling from 1909(Lot 54) and Skiing Australia and New Zealand (Lot 417).

We may be a little bias, but we think the next auction is pretty good. We have more from the Ion Idriess and James Kemsley estates. There is also a good lot of military books including some scarce unit histories, impressive exploration, as well as, Australian fiction, art books, lovely prints, bookplates, and other notable works.

We have more from the Idriess Estate contains manuscripts, letters and artifacts. We have a handful of stone implements including a Phallic Stone comes with a note in the hand of Ion Idriess “Tribal Fertility Ritual” [Lot 414 and others 413 412 415]. An Unpublished South Australia & Northern Territory hand of Idriess:  “Excellent material….wild country in true pioneering days….” [Lot 513]. Drums of Mer Correspondence with Rev Macfarlane [Lot 525].

From the James Kemsley estate we have a collection of bromides for the Ginger Meggs comic strip that he illustrated for many years Lot 636. Collections of photographs of Norman Lindsay [Lots 350, 349, 341, 339]. A touching letter documenting Lindsay’s final moments [Lot 350].

We have over 20 Unit Histories and other military including:

• Nulli Secundus. A History of the 2nnd Battalion, A.I.F. 1915-1919 [Lot 287]
• Footsoldiers. Story of the 2/33rd Australian Infantry Battalion [Lot 536]
• Story of the 5th Australian Division Egypt, France and Belgium [Lot 539]
• The Purple and Gold. A History of the 30th Battalion [Lot 542]
• The Story of the 17th Battalion A.I.F. In the Great War 1914-1918 [Lot 543]
• Grim Glory of the 2/19 Battalion [Lot 617]
• The History of the First Battalion A.I.F. 1914 – 1919 [Lot 544]
• Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-18 by Bean [Lot 488]

Besides Banks’ Florilegium [Lot 100] which was in our last post. We have an archive of Edward John Eyre, Australian Explorer known for expeditions into the interior of South Australia which he is most known for by Australians [Lot 399]. We also have A Picturesque and Historic Voyage to Brazil illustrated by Jean Baptiste Debret. He sketched street scenes, local costumes and relations of the Brazilian particular interest in slavery of blacks and in the indigenous peoples in Brazil [Lot 296].

We have numerous associated copies and bookplates. John Ferguson photograph albums, the father of the great Australian bibliographer Sir John Ferguson [Lot 143]. Book containing the Prince Alfred Hospital bookplate and from the library of Sir Alfred Roberts [Lot 108]. Littlebury’s Herodotus 1737 Powys Bookplate Descendant and genealogist, Tim Powys-Lybbe [Lot 117]. Guther Kemsley Deix Bookplate with printing plates [Lots 333 334 336].

Some other notable works include a set of Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary from 1792 [Lot 450]. Banjo Paterson’s Snowy River with two dustwrappers [Lot 568]. First Edition Sentimental Bloke by C J Dennis with Cover Design and Decorations by Hal Gye and Foreword by Henry Lawson [Lot 605].

Banks was appointed as scientist on the Voyage around the world with James Cook. He had a crew of eight who collected collect specimens, drawing and notes including botanical illustrator Sydney Parkinson. Banks returned from the voyage with a significant collection of specimens and illustrations of flora and fauna, with over three-thousand of them had never been seen by European eyes. (Robertson)

Parkinson created over 1300 illustrations and watercolours included copious notes to their properties and colours. He is said to be the first European artist to set foot on Australian soil

But the ship needed to dock at Batavia for repairs. When they left Batavia 84 of the crew were sick with Malaria or dysentery. 23 of crew died, including Parkinson. On Banks’s return he hired artists to complete Sydney Parkinson’s drawings and 18 engravers to create the copperplates, one of which was Frederick Polydore Nodder(fl. 1770-1800) a botanical artist and publisher. The project took 12 years (Banks Florilegium collection.)

The collection of plates was not published during Banks’ life. On his death in 1820 Banks left his specimens and plates to the British Museum. The complete full collection was produced between 1980 and 1990 by Alecto Historical Editions and the British Museum. They used a superior but laborious technique called à la poupée. In some cases, up to 17 colours were applied to the plate with a cotton ball. Each plate to one week to two months to proof. They were compared with Parkinson’s original drawings and notes. Each plate is exceptional and the bound volumes are grand.

This work represents a significant contribution to science.

The Banks Florilegium is lot 100 in our next auction 12 noon Friday 30th July 2021.

Bibliography

Australian Dictionary of Biography. https://adb.anu.edu.au/

About the Banks’ Florilegium Copperplate Engravings. The Florilegium Gallery. https://www.florilegium.gallery/about-the-florilegiums

Banks’ Florilegium. Alecto Historical Editions https://www.alecto-historical-editions.com/pages/about-banks-florilegium

Banks Florilegium Collection. Museum Metadata Exchange. National Museum of Australia https://researchdata.edu.au/banks-florilegium-collection/935741

Peltz, L.  Nodder, Frederick Polydore (fl. 1773–1800), botanical artist and publisher. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved 11 Jul. 2021, from https://www-oxforddnb-com.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-20228.

Nodder, Frederick Polydore (fl. 1770-c. 1800), Biographical Notes, Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria. Australian National Herbarium. http://www.anbg.gov.au/biography/nodder-frederick.html

Robertson, Anne. The Banks Florilegium. Treasures of the State Library of NSW. Australian Collections. 90-92pp.