First published in 1842, under the distinguished patronage of His Excellency Sir George Gipps, Governor of New South Wales, early editions of Sydney Illustrated are now extremely rare. This twenty-first century issue is further enhanced by truly handsome binding; evey book individually hand-tooled, filigreed and gold embossed.
Prouts delightful watercolour landscapes accompanied by Raes elegant descriptive text, allow a new generation to examine, in picture and prose, a unique account of Sydney as the city appeared in the first half of the nineteenth century. There are the tall ships anchored in Sydney Cove, George Street showing the old burying ground where the Sydney Town Hall would eventually be built and the new Government House, (not yet completed), seen from Mrs Macquaries Chair. Woolloomooloo is shown with just one horse-drawn carriage as the only visable traffic. These are some of the scenes, described in painstaking details, which appear in this remarkable book.
Unlike its early predecessors, the 2011 edition of Sydney Illustrated 1842-1843 contains an introduction which discusses the concept and trouble-fraught production of the original work, supported by contemporary letters and newspaper articles. A comprehensive index is included.
More facinating glimpses of Colonial Sydney await the reader with 22 landscapes reproduced in colour, painted by John Rae some 50 years after the First Fleet sailed into Port Jackson. This collection, held by the Mitchell Library, Dixon Library and Dixon Gallery, significantly adds to the historical value of this volume.
The 2011 edition is strictly limited to 1,500 books, every one personally signed and numbered by the publisher.
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