The arrival of any Douglas Stewart Fine Books catalogue from Melbourne always causes delight and discovery at this blog. The latest one contains no less than 250 items of books,photographs,maps,art and ephemera. A quick stand out was the rare first Russian edition ,Leningrad, of the l927 collaborative novel set in Western Australia by D.H. Lawrence and M.H.Skinner,The Boy in the Bush, ,with part of its pictorial wrapper.
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Discovered in a $1500 collection of five tipped in original bookplates by William Hunter, published in 1943 by Hawthorn Press ,in a limited edition of 50 copies , was the following one for the Bread and Cheese Club, Melbourne, formed in l938 to promote Australian art and literature, with the help of extensive libations ,reflected in the bookplate design, founded by book collector J.K.Moir. With the impressive title Knight Grand Cheese, Moir was a relative of pioneering Darwin journalist, editor , author, the Territory's first female justice of the peace and political activist, Jessie Litchfield.
Jessie's estate valued at 3000 pound was left to the Bread and Cheese Club to set up a memorial award promoting Australian writing ,stipulating that it should never glorify Communism. She assisted journalist ,publisher,artist and historian Glenville Pike to set up the North Australian Monthly magazine,printed in Townsville, and was its Darwin correspondent,where she ran the Roberta lending library. After she died down south in l956, her ashes were flown back to Darwin and scattered over the harbour . Other catalogue items of note to come .
Jessie with poet,raconteur and author Bill Harney ,the first caretaker of Ayers Rock,Uluru.
