Further information on the items displayed is available in the online catalogue

  Early Australian History

An Exhibition of Material from the Monash University Rare Book Collection
6 April - 30 June 2000

A selection of items from the exhibition

 

1 A Collection of voyages : in four volumes ...: illustrated with maps and draughts also several birds, fishes, and plants, not found in this part of the world : curiously engraven on copper-plates. (London : Printed for James and John Knapton ... , 1729) 4 v.

 

2 Cook, James 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 : drawn up from the journals which were kept by the several commanders and from the papers of Joseph Banks, Esq. / by John Hawkesworth, (London : Printed for W. Strahan and T. Cadell ... , 1773) Vol. 3. The Endeavour sailed from Botany Bay on 6 May, 1770. On 11 June, while trying to work their way through the islands of the Great Barrier Reef, they struck aground off Cape Tribulation. After managing to re-float the vessel, they decided to beach it at the Endeavour River and effect repairs on the hull. They landed there on 18 June, and did not resume their voyage until 6th August. It was there that they first saw a kangaroo.

 

3a

Left and Below The infants' library. Book 5. (London : Printed and sold by John Marshall, [1800?]) This is part of a set of sixteen miniature volumes originally issued in a specially-made, tiny wooden bookcase. The volume on display shows wood-cuts of various animals, each with a brief text. It is open at the illustration of a kangaroo, obviously based on Stubbs's engraving in Cook's First Voyage.

5 A MAN OF VAN DIEMEN'S LAND

Left Cook, James, 1728-1779. A voyage to the Pacific Ocean. : Undertaken by the command of His Majesty, for making discoveries in the Northern hemisphere. Performed under the direction of Captains Cook, Clerke and Gore, in His Majesty's Ships, the Resolution and Discovery; in the years 1776, 1777, 1778, 1779, and 1780 in three volumes / Vol. I and II written by Captain Cook, Vol. III by Captain James King. (London : printed for G. Nicol; and T. Cadell, 1784-85) 3 v. On his third voyage, Cook, in the Resolution, put into Adventure Bay on 26 January 1777, and stayed for three days. Furneaux had seen evidence of the native encampments when he had visited the bay in 1773, but had not seen any of the aboriginals themselves. Cook was more fortunate.

 

 

10 Collins, David, 1756-1810. An account of the English colony in New South Wales : with remarks on the dispositions, customs, manners, &c. of the native inhabitants of that country. To which are added, some particulars of New Zealand / compiled, by permission, from the MSS. of Lieutenant-Governor King by David Collins ... (London : Printed for T. Cadell Jun. and W. Davies 1798-1802) 2 v. bound in 1 The illustrations are valuable, particularly those which show the customs of the aborigines. The volume is open at the title page for volume two showing the frontispiece engraving of a corroboree, entitled, "A Night scene in the neighbourhood of Sydney." The most useful section from this point of view is the series of twelve appendices to volume one. These include eight illustrations of the steps in an initiation ceremony, as well as an engraving of aboriginal funeral customs.

 

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Left Mitchell, Thomas, 1792-1855. Three expeditions into the interior of eastern Australia : with descriptions of the recently explored region of Australia Felix, and of the present colony of New South Wales / by T.L. Mitchell. (London, T. & W. Boone, 1838) 2 v. Major Mitchell was appointed Deputy Surveyor-General under Oxley in February 1827, and became Surveyor-General on Oxley's death in May of the following year. He explored the region around the Darling, Murrumbidgee and the Murray Rivers. Vol. 2 is open at a colour plate of the Major Mitchell cockatoo.

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Oxley, John, 1783-1828. Journals of two expeditions into the interior of New South Wales, undertaken by order of the British Government in the years 1817-18 / by John Oxley. (London, John Murray, 1820) After the crossing of the Blue Mountains in 1813 by Blaxland, Wentworth and Lawson, the country inland began to be explored. His Journal is open at a colour portrait of "A Native Chief of Baturst [i.e. Bathurst]". This is the work of J. W. Lewin, now best remembered for his ornithological illustrations.

18 VICTORIA SQUARE, PORT ESSINGTON Leichhardt, Ludwig, 1813-1848. Journal of an overland expedition in Australia, from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844-1845 / by Ludwig Leichhardt. (London : T. & W. Boone, 1847) Although Mitchell had a poor opinion of Leichhardt, the German explorer succeeded in reaching Port Essington.

20 Grant, James, 1772-1833. The narrative of a voyage of discovery, performed in His Majesty's vessel the Lady Nelson, of sixty tons burthen, with sliding keels, in the years 1800, 1801 and 1802, to New South Wales / by James Grant. To which is prefixed, An account of the origin of sliding keels. (London : Printed by C. Roworth ... for T. Egerton, 1803) The colour plate shows a "gang-gang cockatoo".

22 Meredith, Louisa Anne, 1812-1895. Some of my bush friends in Tasmania; native flowers, berries, and insects, drawn from life, illustrated in verse, and briefly described by Louisa Anne Meredith (London, Day & Son, 1860)

23

Left Bentham, George, 1800-1884. Flora australiensis : a description of the plants of the Australian Territory / George Bentham ; assisted by Ferdinand Mueller. (London : L. Reeve, 1863-78) 7 v. bound as 19. This is a unique set of Flora Australiensis. It contains numerous original illustrations, both in colour and black and white, with manuscript notes, some of which are in Von Mueller's hand. It has been argued that this was Von Mueller's own set illustrated with field sketches of the plants. Baron Ferdinand Von Mueller was the Victorian Government Botanist from 1852 until 1884, and the Director of the Botanical Gardens from 1857 to 1873.

33 Morgan, John, 1792-1866. The life and adventures of William Buckley : thirty-two years a wanderer amongst the aborigines of the then unexplored country round Port Phillip, now the province of Victoria / by John Morgan. (Hobart : Archibald MacDougall, 1852)

37 Hargraves, Edward Hammond, 1816-1891. Australia and its gold fields : a historical sketch of the progress of the Australian colonies, from the earliest times to the present day : with a particular account of the recent gold discoveries and observations on the present aspect of the land question : to which are added notices on the use and working of gold in ancient and modern times and an examination of the theories as to the sources of gold / by Edward Hammond Hargraves. (London : H. Ingram, 1855)

35 Murray, Robert Dundas. A summer at Port Phillip / by Robert Dundas Murray. Edinburgh : William Tait, 1843.

38 MacKenzie, David, fl.1845-1852. The gold digger : a visit to the gold fields of Australia in February, 1852 : together with much useful information for intending emigrants / by David MacKenzie. (London : W.S. Orr, [ca. 1852]) It includes a map showing "The gold regions of Victoria and New South Wales.

42 Read, C. Rudston. (1818-1854) What I heard, saw, and did at the Australian gold fields / by C. Rudston Read. (London : T. & W. Boone, 1853) The historian Ernest Scott considered this to be the best description of the gold fields. It is accompanied by coloured engravings of the Turon River gold field and the diggings at Castlemaine and Bendigo. The title-page vignette shows a "Turon widow" saying good-bye to her husband.

43 Newman, William. Rhymes and pictures, to illustrate the histories of a scuttle of coals, a bale of cotton, and a golden sovereign / by William Newman. (London : Grifith and Farran, [185-?]) This item consists of three children's books issued together with a uniform title page. It is open at the third of these, The History of a Golden Sovereign in rhymes and pictures. The fine, hand-coloured engravings show the miners at work as the gold starts out on its journey from Ballarat to the Royal Mint.

45 Marsland, L. W. The Charters Towers gold mines : a descriptive and historical account of the town and gold field of Charters Towers, Queensland : with full and detailed particulars of the more important mines, and of all mining companies carrying on operations on the field : being a handbook of Charters Towers and a guide to mining investors / compiled by L.W. Marsland. (London : Waterlow Bros. & Layton, 1892)

51 Ballantyne, James, 1818-1896. Homes and homesteads in the land of plenty : a handbook of Victoria as a field for emigration / by the Rev. James Ballantyne. (London ; Paris ; New York : Cassell, Petter, and Galpin ; Melbourne : Mason, Firth and M'Cutcheon, 1872)

52 Baden-Powell, George, 1847-1898. New homes for the old country : a personal experience of the political and domestic life, the industries, and the natural history of Australia and New Zealand / by George S. Baden-Powell. (London : Richard Bentley, 1872) Baden-Powell's book is a valuable source of contemporary detail, not only in its descriptions, but also for the fine and unusual engravings. The frontispiece shows an aboriginal stalking emus. He has camouflaged himself with shrubbery and has his arm upraised to mimic the emu's neck. The title-page vignette shows two platypuses in a bush pool.

55

Left Trollope, Anthony, 1815-1882. Victoria and Tasmania / by Anthony Trollope. New ed. [Australia and New Zealand. Selections] (London : Chapman and Hall, 1875) Perhaps the most famous writer to visit Australia in the nineteenth century was Anthony Trollope. He came to Australia in 1871 to visit his son who had settled on the land in New South Wales. Trollope always produced a travel book for each of his trips, e.g. to the West Indies, South Africa, North America. While in Australia he also gathered material for two novels, Harry Heathcote of Gangoil and John Caldigate.

Right Froude, James Anthony, 1818-1894. Oceana, or, England and her colonies / by James Anthony Froude. New ed. London : (Longmans, Green, 1886) Froude was hailed by the press on his arrival in Australia early in the New Year of 1885 as "the most eminent man of letters that has ever visited our shores". He was a prominent historian, best-remembered now as Carlyle's editor, biographer, and literary executor. His Oceana begins by referring back to Sir James Harrington's work of the same name, published in 1656. Harrington was a republican writing during Cromwell's time. In Oceana he advocated a commonwealth, and Froude was putting forward his own interpretation of the "commonwealth" model as the future for the British empire. He visited South Africa, Australia, New Zealand and various Pacific countries in his voyage round the world in 1885.

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68

Rose, George, 1817-1882. Mrs. Brown on the Tichborne case / By Arthur Sketchley. (London : G. Routledge and sons, 1872) The two "yellowback" novels on display were part of a series featuring Mrs. Brown, a working-class, Sarah Gamp type of character, written by "Arthur Sketchley", the pen-name of George Rose. All the dialogue was written phonetically to convey the London accent and speech patterns of Mrs. Brown and her friends. Rose achieved great popularity with Mrs. Brown, writing thirty-two novels in the series. He toured the world giving readings, coming to Australia in 1879-1880.

70 Sands & McDougall's Melbourne and suburban directory for 1885. (Melbourne : Sands & McDougall, 1884) The Melbourne Directory began as the Sands and Kenny Commercial and General Melbourne Directory in 1857 and ceased publication in 1974. It is useful to researchers as it gives details of the occupants of each house and business premises in Melbourne, has an alphabetical sequence to enable us to find a person's address and gives a list of people by occupation. Through consulting the directories one is able, for example, to trace the changes in land-use in particular localities over time. The 1884 directory was issued at the height of the 1880s boom in Melbourne; it has, as an additional feature, a series of plans and elevations of typical single-and double-storey cottages and terrace houses which were at that time being built by speculators.

89 THE HOTHAM ROCKET Melbourne punch. [Continued by: Punch (Melbourne, Vic.), and Table Talk] (East Melbourne : Melbourne Punch, 1855-1900)

97 1838 - 1888, Melbourne then & now : together with the first land sale and present value. (Melbourne : M.L. Hutchinson, [1888]) This shows "Melbourne in 1838 from the Yarra Yarra", and "Melbourne in 1888, from Fitzroy Gardens." The earlier view is a representation of a model constructed by Mr. . Drouhet of the Victorian Railways Department for display in the 1888 Centennial Exhibition. The reporter from the Australasian in describing the model called attention to the fact that "the depression now known as Elizabeth Street was a channel down which the storm waters flowed."

100 [Views of Melbourne and Sydney: an album of photographs, dating from the 1890s] This album belonged to E. O. Weir. Among the photographers whose work is included are C. B. Walker, and C. Rudd. It is open at a view of the "Fish Market, Melbourne" and a view of "Collins Street, looking west from William Street." The fish market was in Flinders Street on the south side between Market and Spencer Streets.

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