The Douglas Stewart Fine Books establishment in Melbourne offers an endless range of fascinating items , a recent gem this November 1929 edition of a magazine for the Australian Bright Set ,listed for $475. The cover portrays a carefree lifestyle in which frolicking about in the surf, possibly Bondi, with a muscular lifesaver was all the go . An article is headed The Brighter Sydney Movement .
It was started and edited by Tasmanian born journalist, poet , author and political activist George Ernest " Bartlett" Adamson (1884-1951),a civil libertarian who opposed wowsers . He was rejected for military service in WW1 on medical grounds when working for a publisher in New Zealand .
He played a prominent part in the Fellowship of Australian Writers and in l938 convinced the government it should allocate more to the Commonwealth Literary Fund .
The Depression caused the closure of Sydneysider. Adamson, who campaigned to improve the lot of the ordinary person , died while addressing a crowd in Sydney's Domain.
The above cover of the monthly was designed by New Zealand born artist , cartoonist, illustrator and author Reginald Walter Coulter (1928-1959) ,a Sydney based commercial artist. During his life he also worked as a laboratory clerk and a law clerk .
