Sydney Rare Book Auctions acknowledges the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of the nation and the traditional custodians of the lands and waters where we live, learn, and work.
Our September 22nd sale features the books, maps and ephemera of The Indigenous Australian Collective. This unique treasury sheds new light on this first chapter in Australia’s history, and aims to bring about a restoration of an ancient Indigenous culture. It includes rare books dating back to the 1770s, early artwork, etchings and maps, together with controversial texts and manuscripts detailing the darker side to colonialisation. Many are extraordinary finds that have never been seen by the public until now.
The Collection features some incredibly rare and moving accounts of explorers’ earliest encounters with the first nations peoples, which include ‘The History of New Holland, from its First Discovery in 1616, to the present time (1787) with a particular account of its produce and inhabitants; and a description of Botany Bay’ to more sinister Government reports including ‘Extracts of Despatches relative to the Massacre of various Aborigines of Australia, in the Year 1838, and respecting the Trial of their Murderers‘, to a collection of 35 Blackbirding documents from 1868 to 1908 relating to the slave trade of South Sea Islanders in NSW and QLD.
Other significant items include:
New South Wales Copies of Royal Instructions for promoting the Moral and Religious Instructions of the Aboriginal Inhabitants of New Holland or Van Diemen’s Land from 1820
Royal Instructions from 1831 re disposing of waste lands (Crown Lands) and Emigration
Bound reports from the Select Committee on Aborigines (British Settlements); with the Minutes of Evidence; Appendix and Index 1836 and 1837 (Australian colonies)
Black War: the Hobart Town Gazette, 16 issues from 1830 re the Black Line military operations against the Aborigines of Tasmania
Aborigines (Australian Colonies): 5 August 1844. Copies or Extracts from the Despatches of the Governors of the Australian colonies, with the Reports of the Protectors of Aborigines, and any other Correspondence to Illustrate the Condition of the Aboriginal Population
Annual Government Reports on the Protection Policies of the Aborigines 1853 to 1952.
This Aboriginal Collection is being offered as one lot and is the first lot in the sale.
Please contact us for a complete catalogue of this remarkable offering.
Auctioneer Paul Feain is excited by what he’s seen in recent times. “We have been quietly going about our business, gradually improving on systems and also revenue, and this has meant we’ve outgrown our prior establishment. It’s fantastic to see that in a day where technology is seeing people turn away from traditional printed books, that the world of rare and antique books, maps and ephemera is still strong.”