If you missed out on a visit from the usual much publicised lapin due to coronavirus , we respectfully suggest you access the James Cook University Library News site and check out an Easter-time treat , about Bill Baillie , a much travelled West Australian Bilby , such cute critters now also reproduced in chocolate and adored by Royalty .
That's Bill on the cover of a 1908 first edition book by artist Ellis Rowan , one of the JCU 50 treasures being aired over the year to mark the university's 50th anniversary . It is from the Edna Shaw Collection of Australian Art and Culture in the Special Collections section .You can also view the full text of Bill Baillie , see other treasures and items of interest on the JCU library website.
Bill Baillie was the name Rowan gave an orphaned Bilby given her by a local handyman in 1906. His adventures included wide travels in areas in which she had ventured .
Born in Melbourne in 1848 , small and frail , Rowan became renowned for her painting of wildflowers and birds . She travelled to remote parts of Northern Australia , New Guinea , Thursday Island and the Torres Strait . The Encyclopedia of Australian Art states that when she came down with malaria in New Guinea , while painting birds of paradise, reputed cannibals carried her many miles to the coast .
Twelve years were spent illustrating books on American flora by Alice Lounsberry, travelling to various part of the US with her .
It just so happens that this blogger has a framed engraving of butterflies by Ellis Rowan saved from a waterlogged copy of the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia ,1883-1886 , which went through Cyclone Tracy in 1974.
