Rattlesnake Island , off Townsville, named after HMS Rattlesnake , under the command of Captain Owen Stanley, Royal Navy, which carried out extensive survey work of the Great Barrier Reef,the New Guinea coast and the Torres Strait during l847-1850.
Captain Stanley, after whom the Owen Stanley Range was named in New Guinea , where Australian troops fought against the Japanese during WWll, was just one of many explorers listed in the following Gaston Renard fine and rare books, Melbourne, catalogue , of major collections in a l994 three-day auction of books offering 1284 lots, which raised $1,160,608.
A two volume Narrative of the Voyage of HMS Rattlesnake by John Macgillivray ,l852, went for $3080.
An Australian Financial Review report of the auction , attended by buyers from New York and the UK, said the Antarctica listings had included many new items which made Spence's bibliography of Antarctica , the standard reference of many years , obsolete. Antarctica books sold for a total of $596,l98 including premiums.
The first session of the auction involved Australian exploration and general Australiana which came from the collection of the late renowned book collector Rhys Stapleton Fox (l908-l993). Interested in history and geography from an early age ,he started collecting at the F.G.Coles sale in l965 and on retirement devoted time to philanthropy and the history of Australian exploration ,his extensive acquisitions reflected in the catalogue.
He was also interested in parliamentary papers. The R. S. Fox Forestry Bursary was set up in Melbourne University to encourage students in the Faculty of Science.
Catalogue , with price lists , discovered by our Shipping Reporter floating about Townsville.
(Exploration.Australia.Antarctica.)
