Rare Aviation Books is a specialty bookshop located in Sydney Australia, with a large stock of books, manuscripts, magazines, ephemera and realia relating to the history of flight. The business was founded in 2014 by Professor Marshall Silver, a geotechnical engineer with a lifelong passion for the history of aeronautics. We take some pride in both the rarity and condition of our books and other collectible items.
We are the only antiquarian booksellers in the world with an exclusive focus on aviation, and are well positioned to assist in collection development. Despite the specialised nature of the business, our stock encompasses a diverse range of materials, from children’s books and adventure stories through to technical manuals and engineering resources.
Our shopfront is located in the heart of Sydney at Argyle Place in the historical Rocks district, within easy walking distance of Circular Quay and Wynyard train stations. All visitors are welcome, but we do ask you to ring ahead to ensure the business is attended.
We have several thousand volumes stored offsite in Sydney, and are happy to arrange for inspection of these books prior to purchase. Fresh material is regularly added to our website.
Given the international scope of aviation history, we are proud to stock books in a wide range of languages including French, German, and Italian. Our bookstore manager, Ms. Clotilde Lancereau, is a native French speaker and can actively assist with the acquisition of rare French language books and manuscripts.
Customer satisfaction is our priority, and we are pleased to announce our membership in the Australian and New Zealand Association of Antiquarian Booksellers.
Rare Aviation Books
Catalogue 5: Winter 2023
Publisher
Rare Aviation Books Pty Ltd
8 Argyle Place
Millers Point
NSW 2000
Managing Director
Prof. Marshall L. Silver
Bookstore Manager
Clotilde Lancereau
Cataloguing
Clotilde Lancereau
Hugh Myers
Photography
Clotilde Lancereau
Design & Layout
Burrough Design / Cloe Lancereau
Cover Information
Front cover - Item No. 3 in this catalogue
Rear cover - Item No. 20 in this catalogue
1. [2/5th Australian Field Regiment] O'BRIEN, John Guns and Gunners. The Story of the 2/5th Australian Field Regiment in World War II.
Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1950.
Octavo, original blue cloth, xviii, 268 pp., frontispiece, 16 double-sided photo plates, endpaper maps and a further 12 maps throughout the text.
Cloth a little dulled and flecked, internally in very good order.
First edition of a scarce and desirable Second World War regimental history.
The 2/5th Australian Field Regiment were gunners stationed in the Middle East, New Guinea and Kalimantan. This book contains valuable information and images on the Syrian campaign; specifically, the battles at Merdjayoun, Qouneitra, Ibeles Saki, Jerme, Damour and Baalbek.
This hard fighting was followed by a period of rest and recreation back in Australis, followed by deployment to New Guinea, where they provided artillery support at Milne Bay and Buna. This was followed by engagements in Kalimantan at Balikapapan, Sepinggang and Manggar (in present day Banga Belitung Island, Indonesia).
The frontispiece of the book depicts award of the Victoria Cross to lieutenant A. R. Cutler.
$450, item #AP1864
Trigellis-Smith 546; Dornbush Australian Military Bibliography 474.
2. [ANZAC].
Australia’s Fighting Sons of the Empire. Portraits and biographies of Australians in the Great War.
Sydney: B. Jackson and Company, [1918].
Large quarto, original red cloth, 388 pp., illustrated throughout.
Front endpaper slightly chipped, lower edge of the front board bumped, but overall a sound solid copy.
Scarce and useful biographical reference for ANZAC troopers of the First World War.
Australia’s Fighting Sons of the Empire was published in several editions, each covering different states. The present example covers the rural communities of New South Wales and Southern Queensland.
The book contains well over on thousand succinct and informative biographical summaries of the ANZACS who fought in all theatres of war, especially France, Belgium, Gallipoli, Egypt and Sinai. Along with a portrait photograph, typical details include the place and date of birth; school and tertiary education; date of enlistment and subsequent class, rank and military qualifications; involvement in actions against the enemy; injuries and/or date of death, and the location and duration of hospitalization (where applicable).
While the book is not arranged alphabetically, it does include a table of contents arranged by towns of New South Wales and Southern Queensland, including some remote and isolated settlements who contributed a relatively small number of men to the War. Such is the utility of this book that it was recently printed as a facsimile edition, with a freshly compiled, alphabetically organized index of names. Copies of the original editions are nonetheless scarce, and can be regarded as collector’s pieces in their own right.
$1000, item #AP3003.
3. BEAN, C.E.W. [Charles Edwin Woodrow].
Complete set of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918.
Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1935-1941.
Twelve volumes, large octavos in original maroon cloth with gilt lettering, maps, plates and charts throughout.
Occasional light external wear and a touch of flecking, but a most handsome near-fine set with solid and consistent cloth colouration. The last and final volume, being the photographic record of the war, is well preserved.
A set of mixed editions dated between 1935 and 1941, when the original publication was re-issued by Angus & Roberston in large numbers at the outset of the Second World War. Charles Bean’s history of the Australian army remains a benchmark of military historiography, supplemented here in the full set with the respective volumes on the Royal Australian Navy by Jose and the Australian Flying Corps by Cutlack.
$1750, item #KC3115
4. BERRIE, Lieutenant George L.
Under Furred Hats (6th A.L.H. Regt.).
Sydney: W. C. Penfold, 1919.
Octavo, original decorated yellow cloth, 180 pp., numerous photo plates (some folding). Significant silverfish activity affects the front board, also the fore-edge margin of some pages a bit nibbled. Otherwise in good order.
Official history of the Australian Sixth Light Horse Regiment in the Middle East, and signed by the author on the title page.
The first chapter outlines training and organisation in Australia, followed by two chapters on Gallipoli. The Sixth then served in Sinai, Palestine and the Jordan Valley. This regimental history is notable for its abundant photo plates showing many aspects of camp life, including two folding plates detailing the Light Horse encamped at Romani, Et Maler and El Mazar.
Trigellis-Smith 277; Dornbusch 379
5. BEWSHER, Paul.
The Bombing of Bruges. London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1918.
Octavo, original blue cloth, 82 pp. Mild foxing, spine browning, overall a good copy.
One of the scarce First World War poetry books, written by aviator Paul Bewsher (this being the first and only edition). Much of the poetry is personal and sentimental, dedicated to flying comrades, nurses and airfield hands.
Paul Bewsher was born in 1894 in Fulham, London, England. When World War One broke out, Bewsher joined the Royal Navy and served aboard HMS Manica as an air mechanic balloon hand during the Gallipoli Campaign. He was then posted to Manston in Kent for training with the Royal Naval Air Service before going to France as an Observer/Bomber on Handley Page night bombing missions, with the rank of Lieutenant. Bewsher learnt to fly while based with a Squadron in Luxeuilles-Bains and was promoted to the rank of Captain. He was shot down during a bombing mission over the Zeebrugge Mole on the night of the 10th-11th April 1918 and spent the remainder of the war in a German prison camp. We have not found any of his poetry written and published after the War.
6. BEWSHER, Paul.
The Dawn Patrol and Other Poems of an Aviator.
London: Erskine Macdonald, 1918.
Small slim octavo pamphlet (signed in fours), printed wrappers, 40 pp. Wrappers moderately rubbed and chipped at extremities, top-edge of the half- title page slightly chipped; overall a good sound copy though. Contemporary ownership inscription to the half-title page.
Scarce third impression of the first edition, dated August 1918 (the first edition being 1917). This subsequent impression had a different title page but the same pagination. Curiously, in this particular copy the last gathering is bound out of order – clearly a printer’s error. Nonetheless, the book is complete with all the poems present.
The poems are variously sentimental, resentful, and nostalgic, and were composed at various locations in Britain, France, and the Dardanelles (including the Isle of Grain, Isle of Sheppey, Ochey-les-Bains, Eastchurch, and Luxeuil-les-Bains). One rather metaphysical composition, the Fringe of Heaven was actually penned in the air. Sadly, most of the poems concern the grim aspects of aerial warfare, including a memorial poem to his friend and comrade Carlton Berry, who was killed in an aeroplane accident in July of 1916.
Of special interest is the poem written to a fallen colleague, penned while Bewsher served on HMS Manica, a kite balloon ship stationed in the Dardanelles in 1915. The poem is titled ‘K.L.H. Died of wounds received at the Dardanelles’.
Noffsinger 209
7. BLAND, William.
Atmotic Ship.
Sydney: David Mason Printer, circa 1866.
Single printed sheet measuring 570 x 445 mm.
Backed on linen, slight loss of text due to a split at folds (now repaired), otherwise in good condition. A rare and desirable piece of early Australian aeronautical history, being one of the earliest instances of aviation design published in the colony of New South Wales.
Dr. William Bland (1789-1868) was a surgeon, politician, medical humanitarian, and convicted murderer (following a duel in Bombay in 1813 whilst serving as naval surgeon aboard the Hesper). Tried for murder and found guilty, he was recommended for mercy and transported to Australia for seven years. He went on to practice medicine first in Hobart and later in Sydney.
In 1851, Bland sent technical drawings to England for the first airship designed by an Australian. The drawings represented the Atmotic Ship, taking the shape of a semi-rigid balloon steered by a series of sails. In England, Bland hoped to obtain a patent for his 'Atmotic Airship' which would be propelled using 'steam or perhaps some analogous gas power'.
In 1854, Bland exhibited prototype models of the Atmotic Ship at the Crystal Palace exhibition. With this invention he hoped to revolutionise transport between London and Sydney, and also within the Australian continent. Sadly, the project was never realised due to various challenges in building such a vessel, as well as the danger of using flammable gas for flight.
This fragile broadside, with its four detailed plans, was published about fifteen years after Bland patented his invention. A small number of other publications by Bland relate to his aeronautical aspirations and all are exceedingly rare. Two illustrated booklets from the 1850’s demonstrate the evolution of the Atmotic Ship, whose final form is manifest in this broadside of circa 1866. We have only been able to positively ascertain holdings of this broadside in the State Library of NSW and the National Library, indicating the rarity of this item.
$7,500.00, Item #AP2957
Jane's All The World's Aircraft 1945-46. London: Sampson Low, circa 1946.
Quarto, black and dark blue cloth, discontinuous pages, profusely illustrated. Boards bumped on corners, otherwise a very good copy.
First impression. A comprehensive history of the world’s aeronautical progress, civil aviation across the world and a descriptive list of the world’s aeroplanes of World War Two. This volume contains information missing from previous war-time Jane’s due to censorship.
9. BUDDEN, F. M. That Mob! The Story of the 55th/53rd Australian Infantry Battalion A. I. F. Ashfield, New South Wales: Privately printed, 1973.
Octavo, green hardcover with spine lettering, [iv], 168 pp., illustrated with photographs in black and white throughout as well as maps and four appendices.
Boards bumped at extremities, author’s inscription and signature on front free-endpaper, small tears on dust-jacket, otherwise a near-fine copy in scarce dust-jacket.
First edition. Scarce copy. Signed by the author.
In 1937 the 55th merged with the 53rd Battalion, forming the 55th/53rd Infantry Battalion. In 1942, both battalions were deployed in Papua New Guinea. Their history soon began to diverge as while the 55th showed a certain potential in the field, the 53rd didn't obtain the same results on the Kokoda Trail and their group were rapidly referred to as "that mob". The 16th Brigade launched an attack on Sanananda but made little progress after Buna and Gona were captured. The 30th Brigade, composed of the 55th/53rd, 36th and 49th Battalions, was deployed to participate in the assault. The fights that took place at Sanananda and Bougainville enabled the 55th/53rd Australian Infantry Battalion to demonstrate their qualities as a unit.
With Horse and Morse in Mesopotamia. The Story of Anzacs in Asia. Sydney: Arthur McQuitty & Co., 1927.
Large quarto, original papered boards with blue cloth backstrip, paper spine label and pictorial onlay to the front cover; [viii], 200 pp., including numerous integral photo plates, and endpaper maps.
Front external hinge a little frayed but still quite sound, boards a bit rubbed and worn at the corners, light occasional foxing. Overall, a very good and handsome copy.
First edition. One of the pre-eminent books celebrating the efforts of Australian Army signallers during the First World War in Egypt, the Levant, Iraq and Persia. Lavishly illustrated throughout, it includes anecdote and serious history to form a warm and engaging account of the ANZAC spirit.
11. CONDON, Dr. Edward U.
Final Report of the Study of Unidentified Flying Objects Conducted by the University of Colorado under Contract to the United States Air Force. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co. and Colorado Associated University Press, 1969.
Octavo, grey cloth, xxiv, 968 pp., illustrated throughout.
Boards slightly rubbed at spine ends and extremities, dust jacket worn and chipped, yellow sticker on spine ‘(aka) “The Condon report”’, otherwise a good copy.
A scare copy. This is the complete and final report of the work carried out by the University of Colorado under the direction of Dr. Edward U. Condon. It studies the UFO phenomenon commissioned by the United States Air Force and covers the history of UFOs and foreign UFO sightings as well as the psychological aspects of UFO reports and the visual effects created by such phenomena as radar, sonic booms and atmospheric electricity which gave rise to many alleged UFO appearances.
$280, item #KC2379
12. COOTE, Errol.
Hell's Airport. The Key to Lasseter’s Gold Reef. Sydney: Peterman Press, 1934.
Octavo, original green cloth, 288 pp., 31 double-sided photo plates (for a total of 62 images) and a map.
Previous owner’s details to front endpaper, spine ends and extremities rubbed, moderately cantered, some gentle foxing. Overall, a very good copy.
Second edition, signed by the author. Foreword by Air Commodore Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Errol Coote's account of his involvement with Lasseter's gold prospecting expedition of 1930-31, which was to become an El-Dorado for Australian prospectors for the following decades.
13. CRAMP, K.R.
Australian Winners of the Victoria Cross. A Record of the Deeds that Won the Decoration during the Great War 1914-1919.
Sydney: McCarron, Stewart and Company, 1919.
Octavo, [80] pp.
Fore-edge margin of the title-page a little chipped, front cover loose, rear cover missing. Internally in very good order.
This booklet was printed by McCarron, Stewart and Company for the Royal Australian Historical Society. All First World War VC recipients are included, with a portrait image and short summary of the battle circumstances that won the award.
$280, item #AP196
14. [De Havilland Aircraft Company].
The de Havilland Gipsy Major Series 10 Operation, Maintenance and Overhaul handbook.
Hertfordshire: Issued by the de Havilland Engine Company Limited, 19481957.
Original folder with preliminary leaves and 20 separately paginated sections. A wellpreserved maintenance handbook. This publication comprises 20 sections respectively updated at different times during the timeframe 1948 to 1957. It is complete for the revisions current September 1957.
The de Havilland Gipsy Major (or Gipsy IIIA) is a four-cylinder, air-cooled, inverted inline engine used in various light aircraft produced in the thirties, including the famous Tiger Moth biplane. Originally 130 horsepower (92kW), it later developed into 141 and 145 horsepower (105, 110 kW) engines. The Gipsy was one of the most popular sport aircraft engines well into the nineteen fifties and was the engine of choice for various light aircraft, trainers, and liaison aeroplanes evidenced by this handbook dating from 1948 to 1957. To the present day, Gipsy Major engines remain in service powering many vintage light aircraft.
Operational handbooks such as this example are rare by their very nature. Composed of replaceable updates, each copy is different and reflects the maintenance history of the workshop where used.
From the collection of aviation enthusiast John Fisher, who restored a single-engine de Havilland Tiger Moth and flew her from England to Australia in 1996.
$1500, item #KC1519
15.
DYSON, Will [Lieutenant William Henry].
Australia at War A Winter Record Made by Will Dyson on the Somme and at Ypres During the Campaigns of 1916 and 1917. With an introduction by G.K. Chesterton
London: Cecil Palmer & Hayward, 1918.
Folio, later brown cloth with the original illustrated front wrapper bound in; dedication plate featuring the poem “To the Men of the A.I.F.”, with a total of 52 letterpress leaves (including the preliminaries) interspersed with twenty plates.
Cloth moderately flecked, internally well preserved. First edition of a scarce First World War record, by the official Australian war artist William Dyson.
Will Dyson (1880-1938) was one of the significant political cartoonists of his generation, and a man of staunch socialist principles. Married to Ruby Lindsay (sister of artist and illustrator Norman Lindsay), Dyson worked in London from 1910 for the Daily Herald, then a left-leaning publication whose editors allowed him considerable freedom of expression.
Given his outspoken views on capital and labour relations, Dyson was a surprising choice for war artist. This book is a selection of his better work produced under strained conditions on the Western front. Dyson was wounded twice in combat, proof that the war artist was far from a detached observer.
Renowned for both eloquence and artistic prowess, the foreword captures some of the hard-bitten scepticism that informed Dyson's world-view. Railing against the nationalistic propaganda that painted trench-warfare as anything but abject misery, Dyson writes 'they [the drawings] are not primarily cheerful - but it is open to doubt whether we are behaving generously in demanding that the soldier who is saving the world for us should provide us with a fund of light entertainment while doing it.'
$350, item #AP2055
Dornbusch, 225; Fielding and O’Neill p. 245
16. ERICKSON, Dorothy.
Gold & Silversmithing in Western Australia: A History.
Crawley, Western Australia: The University of Western Australia Publishing, 2010.
Quarto, silver grey hardcover, xvi, 480 pp., frontispiece, profusely illustrated in colour.
Library stamp ‘cancelled’ on title leaf, otherwise a fine copy in dust jacket.
A scarce copy. An extensive work bringing forth the talented and renowned goldsmiths and silversmiths working in Western Australia from the late 1820s to the year 2000. It provides biographies of individual artists and is lavishly illustrated with many photographs of locally produced jewelry and other art pieces, many with goldmining and Western Australia award themes.
17. FIRKINS, Peter.
Strike and Return. The Story and Exploits of No. 460 R.A.A.F. Heavy Bomber Squadron, R.A.F. Bomber Command in the World War.
Perth: Paterson Brokensha, [1964].
Octavo, original pale blue cloth, 200 pp., photo plates.
Lower end of the spine a lit rubbed, some light spotting of the cloth, a few neat and unobtrusive marginal notations in ink; overall a rather nice copy of a book rarely encountered in pleasing condition. The dust-jacket is a little chipped and creased.
First edition of the standard history of 460 Heavy Bomber Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force. This original printing has become scarce, although the book has been re-issued twice since its publication in the mid-sixties. The author, Peter Firkins, joined the R.A.A.F. at seventeen years of age and completed a tour of operations with 460 Squadron. As such, his history blends strategic and tactical information with a more personal and intimate life of Australian airmen on active service in Europe.
As noted in the introduction, the heady and often reckless lifestyle of these men reflected their chances of survival. The odds of surviving a full operational tour in Bomber Command were approximately 2.5:1. It was a life of both extreme violence and hedonism: 'at two o'clock in the morning they would be flying through the fiercest artillery barrage a night fighter defence system ever devised. A few hours later they could be in the arms of a lover, or watching a glamorous theatrical show, or drinking beer in the enchanting surroundings of an Old English inn.'
$250, item #2988
Potter, Australian Aviation Bibliography, page 11.
18. FREEMAN, Brett.
Lake Boga at War. The Inside Story of the Secret RAAF Inland Flying Boat Unit - WWII
Swan Hill, Victoria, Australia: Catalina Publications, 1996.
Small quarto, blue hardcover with spine lettering, xv, 296 pp., illustrated. Spine ends a little flecked, otherwise a near-fine copy in dust jacket.
Second edition. Early 1942, after a Japanese air raid against land-based aircraft at Broome, the bombing of Darwin, and the near total destruction of flying boats, the Royal Australian Air Force and Qantas sought to find a secret body of water where they could conceal and service their surviving water-based aircraft.
This is how Lake Boga, in Victoria, was chosen. Almost 1000 RAAF and WAAF personnel were soon stationed at No.1 Flying Boat Repair Depot, restoring RAAF
Catalina, Dornier, and Martin Mariner flying boats. In mid-1943, Dutch aircraft and crews arrived at Lake Boga having escaped the Japanese forces in Java, Indonesia.
$135, item #KC2587
19. GARNETT, David (editor).
The Letters of T.E. Lawrence.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1938.
Quarto, original tan buckram with gilt lettering, 896 pp., frontispiece, plates, and four maps (two folding).
One corner of the boards is bumped, small inoffensive mark affects the fore-edge, yet overall, a handsome copy.
First edition. In addition to the personal correspondence of Colonel Lawrence, this definitive edition includes excerpts from official reports, letters or articles in the press, diaries, unpublished notes and memoranda. The two folding maps respectively detail northern Syria and the Arabian extent of the Ottoman Empire in 1915.
$300, item #AP180
20. GOUGH, Evelyn.
The Epic of Bert Hinkler. The Homing Bird of Bundaberg. Melbourne: Massina and Company, 1928.
Slim staple bound pamphlet in original printed wrappers, 16 pp. A little foxed, near fine condition.
A scarce memento of Bert Hinkler's first solo flight from London to Australia in February 1928. In just over fifteen days, Hinkler travelled across the Middle East and East Asia, before arriving in Darwin. Stops included Rome, Malta, Tobruk, Basra, Karachi, Calcutta, Singapore and Batavia. After landing in Darwin to much fanfare, Hinkler flew south to his home town of Bundaberg, and from there proceeded to the State capitals.
This poem was printed in Melbourne, and is divided into sections (one of which specifically concerns the flight from Darwin to Bundaberg). While perhaps lacking enduring literary merit, the enthusiasm of the poet is indisputable, and at times borders on mystical infatuation. Canadian born Evelyn Gough settled in Melbourne following her marriage to a British naval commander in 1873. She was the author of several published poems, contributed to periodicals, and took a strong interest in social welfare and the advancement of women.
Idolisation of Bert Hinkler was easy, and in many ways he epitomised the modernist ideal of a self-made man. From humble origins he proved courageous in the service of the Royal Naval Air Service during the First World War. Aside from his distinguished service record, Hinkler was a skilled airman, a gifted mechanic and aircraft designer. But perhaps most importantly, he was warm, humble and charismatic - and had the gift of making the arduous appear effortless. The pamphlet is clearly scarce. Only one copy is evident in Australian institutional collections (at the State Library of Victoria), and we have been unable to reveal any historical sale records for the poem. It is recorded in Potter's bibliography of Australian Aviation (1986, page 13), and in Ian McLaren's privately printed bibliographic survey of the same subject (1958, page 42).
$400, item #AP3313
21. GRAVES, Robert.
Lawrence and the Arabs Illustrations edited by Eric Kennington. Maps by Herry Perry.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1927.
Octavo, 454 pp., frontispiece and plates.
A lovely award copy in gilt quarter calf with crimson morocco label, marbled endpapers and armorial crest of the Birkenhead School, Oxton, Wirral, North West England, established in 1860.
First edition. This copy was awarded as a school prize to William G. Bone in 1930. Bill Bone was a gifted footballer who later served in the RAF during the Second World War, during which time he was severely burned when an American bomber crashed into the pub where he and his friends were having a drink killing 61 people. As a result of this accident, he became part of the Guinea Pig Club, where the Foundation of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery for burn victims was developped.
After the war, Bill Bone worked as an electrical engineer in Ghana (West Africa) and Windsor (Ontario, Canada) before moving to California where he passed away in 2012.
22. HOLLAND, Sergeant E.S. Scott (editor).
The Tassie Times Magazine Xmas Number 1918. 40th Battn. A.I.F. London: prepared for the Battalion by the Cable Printing & Publishing Company, 1918.
Staple bound periodical measuring 158 x 244 mm., original printed wrappers, 28 [4] pp., illustrated.
Mildly rubbed, yet a very good copy with a loosely inserted sheet featuring the song 'March of the Tasmanians' by Lieutenant A. Wheatley-Healy.
Rare Australian Battalion magazine; it appears that this Christmas number was the only issue formally published. Three copies are evident in Australian institutional collections, at the Australian War Memorial, State Library of NSW and the National Library in Canberra.
23. HOWLETT, Lieutenant R.A.
The History of the Fiji Military Forces 1939-1945.
London: printed by Waterlow and Sons for the Government of Fiji, 1948.
Octavo, original printed papered boards with green cloth backstrip, 268 pp., numerous integral maps, plates and illustrations, large folding map of Bougainville Island.
Boards a little rubbed, otherwise fresh and attractive.
First edition, inscribed and signed by the author. One of only a few records of this military force in World War Two. Published by tge Force Historical Committee.
The part played by the Fiji military Forces during World War Two is described where the Force served in forward areas of the Pacific from 1942 to the end of the war. The history of the Force initially deals with its general establishment and deployments, followed by a roll of honour, honours and awards, including the Victoria Cross, demobilisation and a nominal roll. Also included are brief histories of each of the 40+ individual units that constituted the Force.
24. HUTCHINSON, Frank and MYERS, Francis.
The Australian Contingent A History of the Patriotic Movement in New South Wales and an Account of the Despatch of Troops to the Assistance of the Imperial Forces in the Soudan.
Sydney: Government Printer, 1885.
Octavo, contemporary polished half calf, gilt spine with simple ornamental bands and label, [iv], 286 pp.
Bound without the half-title page, spine panel chipped with localised loss, edges and preliminaries foxed.
The preface captures some of the frenzied sentiment surrounding the departure of the Australian Contingent to Soudan (Sudan): 'It was unquestionably the death of the heroic but ill-starred General Gordon that furnished the first impulse that has sent 800 Australians to help to avenge, or to share his fate. The story of his desperate mission to Khartoum, and its disastrous end, is of course all too fresh and ineffaceable in men's memories to need recounting...'.
25. JOHNS, W. E.
Biggles Investigates and Other Stories of the Air Police. Leicester: Brockhampton Press, 1964.
Small octavo, hardcover with lettered spine, 184 pp., frontispiece.
Front hinge a little tender (but still holding), minor foxing of the edges, spine a little bumped, dust-jacket mildly rubbed and stained, price not clipped. A very good copy with the uncommon dust-jacket.
First edition. In this collection of eight short stories, Biggles investigates a Spanish monoplane crash in Wiltshire, a crew of amateur yachtsmen who fished for lobsters and caught crab, a schoolboy who watched planes go by.
Biggles books in good condition with their dust-jackets are becoming scarce and are very collectable. They sell well at major book auctions.
26. KINGSFORD-SMITH, C.E. [Charles Edward] and ULM, C.T.P. [Charles
Thomas Philippe].
Story of "Southern Cross" Trans-Pacific Flight 1928.
Sydney: Penlington & Somerville, 1928.
Small octavo, original blue decorated cloth, 228 pp, with 34 double-sided photo plates. Some spotting, otherwise a well-preserved copy in dust-jacket (rear panel with small loss).
First edition. That memorable feat of flying across the Pacific Ocean from California to Australia is vividly recorded in Story of Southern Cross Trans-pacific Flight, which is illustrated with more than seventy photographs.
Charles Kingsford-Smith and Charles Ulm (along with two Americans – Harry Lyon and James Warner) undertook to cross the Pacific Ocean by air on board a three engine Fokker aeroplane which they named the Southern Cross. Smithy and Ulm complemented each other. Indeed, while Charles Kingsford-Smith was a skilled pilot, Charles Ulm was a great planner and had the ability to raise funds which enabled them to make their transpacific flight a reality. On May 31st, 1928, the four men took off from Oakland airfield in California landing on June 9th at the Brisbane Eagle Farm Aerodrome.
Although this book was widely distributed after the Australian landing, copies with the dust-jacket are scarce indeed.
$1500, item #AP3004
27. KINGSFORD-SMITH, Sir Charles, RAWSON, Commander Geoffrey [foreword].
My Flying Life An Authentic Biography Prepared under the Personal Supervision of and from the Papers and Diaries of the Late Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith.
London: Andrew Melrose, 1937.
Octavo, blue boards with gold spine lettering, 284 pp., with 32 pp. publisher’s advertisements bound in. With a frontispiece, 14 plates and two integral maps.
Some flecking at edges of the boards and spine, page edges foxed, overall a very good copy in a heavily worn and taped dust-jacket.
The autobiography of the Australian airman, Sir Charles Kingsford-Smith, who narrated in great detail the story of his flying life - ‘a life so full of adventure, romance, danger, thrill, and excitement, that it is an epic of the Air Age. This book, published posthumously, brings forth his early struggles, his first great flight across the Pacific Ocean, his numerous flights around the world and the startling series of flights across the Tasman Sea, when on several occasions he and his companions were very near to death.’ The illustrations were chosen by Lady Kingsford-Smith.
$250, item #AP2447
28. LAWRENCE, Colonel Thomas Edward.
The Home Letters of T.E. Lawrence and His Brothers.
London: Basil Blackwell, 1954.
Quarto, original gilt lettered navy cloth, frontispiece and abundant plates. An excellent copy with the dust-jacket (this a little rubbed but not price clipped).
First United Kingdom edition. A beautifully prepared edition with numerous plates presenting the life of Lawrence as both an infantry officer, an archaeologist and an antiquarian at large in the Middle East. The letters were transcribed and edited for this edition by M.R. Lawrence (the brother of Thomas, William and Frank Lawrence). The original letters are preserved in the Bodleian Library at Oxford University.
$220, item #AP178
29. LAWRENCE, Colonel Thomas Edward.
The Mint. Notes Made at the R.A.F. Depot between August and December, 1922, and at Cadet College in 1925 by T.E. Lawrence
New York: Doubleday & Company, 1955.
Quarto, original lettered blue cloth, 250, [ii] pp., an excellent copy. The accompanying original slipcase is worn.
In 1922
T.E. Lawrence enlisted in the ranks of the R.A.F. under the name of John Hume Ross. The Mint is a private notebook of thoughts and reflections, and was never intended for publication. This is a beautifully printed limited edition of one thousand copies, of which this is number 636.
30. LAWRENCE, Colonel Thomas Edward.
Revolt in the Desert.
London: Jonathan Cape, 1927.
Quarto, original cloth with gilt lettering, portrait frontispiece and fifteen plates, folding map at the rear.
A few light spots affect the front board, endpapers browned, yet a handsome and pleasing copy.
First trade edition. This edition is a shorter narrative than Seven Pillars of Wisdom , yet it retains many of the important and iconic portrait plates from the original Jonathan Cape edition. They reproduce charcoal drawings by Augustus John, W. Roberts, Cosmo Clark and Eric Kennington.
31. LAWSON, J. W. H.
Four Five Five. The Story of 455 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron.
Melbourne: Wlike & Co., 1943.
Octavo, original imprinted blue cloth, 208 pp., five double-sided plates. Light fading to the spine and board edges, minor page browning on front endpaper, previous owners’ inscription on front endpaper. Dust-jacket illustration faded, with a tear in the middle. Dust-jacket moderately chipped.
First edition. Very scarce, rare with dust-jacket. 455 (R.A.A.F.) Squadron has a proud record: the first Australian Squadron to bomb Germany - the first Australian torpedo Squadron - the only Australian unit to operate from a Russian base, and, as the first Australian rocket-firing Squadron and the guardian of the northern sea approach to the operations which commenced on D-Day and continued until the successful conclusion of the European War.
$900, item #AP259
32. MAJOR, Ricardo Henrique (Richard Henry). Descobrimento da Australia pelos Portuguezes em 1601
Lisbon: Melchiades and Co., 1863.
Large octavo pamphlet, original printed wrappers, 24 pp., and a map.
An excellent copy.
Scarce pamphlet championing the Portuguese discovery of the Australian continent, based upon the Dieppe portolan charts purportedly depicting the northern and eastern coastlines of Australia. The author was the historian and linguist Richard Henry (Ricardo Henrique) Major, whose impressive command of archaic romance languages brought him to the inner circle of the Hakluyt Society in its early days. In 1847-1848 the Society published selected letters of Christopher Columbus, translated by Major, and some years later in 1859 he edited and translated a volume of early sources on the discovery of Australia.
This Portuguese language pamphlet summarises Major's findings, effectively claiming early Portuguese maritime knowledge of the east coast of Australia, and presumably landfall too. By implication, such historical speculations had geopolitical ramifications in undermining British territorial claims to Australia. Naturally, Major's views were popular in Portugal where he was feted and welcomed into the Royal court and honoured with a ceremonial knighthood.
Some bibliographic complexity surrounds Major's Portuguese-language pamphlets on the Dieppe portolan charts, because the titles appear with different wording on the wrappers (at variance with the title-page itself). Ferguson effectively clarifies the issue, listing two Lisbon imprints of 1863, in quarto and octavo format respectively.
$600, item #3428
Ferguson 12201
33. MARKHAM, Floyd A. The Black Pirates 1942-4. Sydney: John Sands, circa 1945.
Large oblong quarto, bound in the original decorated cloth, 96 pp., illustrated throughout.
Hinges becoming tender, yet still holding, one leaf detached (nonetheless the book is collated and complete). Dust-jacket worn with some loss. Overall, a good copy.
This is the scarce first edition with its uncommon dust-jacket. The Black Pirates: 400th Bomb Squadron of the 90th Group, Jolly Rogers, was one of the B-24 Bomber Groups of the U.S. 5th Army Air Force. This picture book includes combat crews flying against the Imperial Japanese Military in New Guinea in 1943-44 and the events in the Philippine Islands which occurred in 1944. It celebrates the role of the 400th Bomb Squadron personnel and their role in the southwest Pacific theatre from 1942 until 1944.
34. MITCHELL, William.
Winged Defense. The Development and Possibilities of Modern Air Power - Economic and Military.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1925. Octavo, original green cloth, frontispiece, xxiv, 262 pp., 15 photo plates. Cloth a little rubbed at extremities, some moderate foxing, yet a most respectable copy.
First edition. William Mitchell was an innovative and highly outspoken pioneer US military aviator. His father was a US Senator and his grandfather was a distinguished officer in the US Civil War. As a young military officer he served and fought wars in the Philippines and insurrections along the Mexican border. He introduced radio and automobile equipment into the US Army as early as 1914.
In June 1916, he took private flying lessons at the Curtiss Flying School because he was proscribed by law from military aviator training by age and rank. As the youngest member of the US War Department General Staff, he became an early advocate of an independent U.S. air force. During the First World War he became Chief of the Air Service. After the war he began disturbing many people with his theories regarding the coming air age, many of which were proved in 1921 with the sinking of the exGerman battleship Ostfriesland off the Virginia Capes by the use of aircraft.
For his outspoken criticism of military policy, he was court-martialled in 1925 for speaking against the Army for investing in battleships instead of aircraft carriers. Following his trial, he resigned in 1926, to continue writing and speaking out on aviation matters, until his death in 1936. All of his writings are important as a predictor of the successful use of airpower in World War Two. This book, published during his court-martial, was not widely-distributed and is thus scarce.
$600, item #AP2902
35. [No author stated].
The Origin and History of the City of Newcastle Regiment 2nd Infantry Battalion - Australian Military Forces.
Newcastle: no publisher, circa 1950.
Fifteen leaves printed from a typed manuscript, stapled within printed wrappers, as issued. Very good condition.
A rare history of this epic fighting unit drawn from the Hunter Valley, New South Wales. This publication charts the course of the regiment from its inception in the nineteenth century as remnants of the Newcastle Volunteer Rifles, through to modern times and the First World War (including Gallipoli and the Dardanelles). At the outbreak of the Second World War, a bifurcation of administrative command occurred:
"The [Newcastle] regiment, due to the system in vogue, was not privileged to serve overseas in the 1939-45 war, however, it was very well represented in the 2/2 Infantry Battallion, A.I.F., who wore the famous purple over green colour patch and adopted the motto 'Nulli Secundus'.
It also provided many trained officers and men for other A.I.F. units."
As such, the last third of the book principally concerns the activities of the now legendary 2/2 Infantry Battallion in North Africa, Palestine and New Guinea. One passage regarding the Buna campaign gives a good sense of the depredations inflicted on the 2/2, and hence the need to draw men from the Newcastle Regiment in large numbers. Of 800 men at the commencement of the campaign, only 73 remained when they were relieved, being extraordinary casualty rates by any standards.
$300, item #KC3316
36. [Officer Cadet Battalion].
‘Cheerio’ Chronicling Chiefly Chaps & Chapters of "C" Company No. 2
O.C.B. Emmanuel College, Cambridge December 1917 - April 1918.
Cambridge: W. Heffer and Sons, [1918].
Large quarto measuring 225 x 285 mm, 80 pages of illustrated letterpress, 12 plates (including the portrait frontispiece), two leaves for autographs of members of the Battalion, and ten double-sided advertisement leaves.
Original illustrated wrappers heavily chipped and loose, some foxing, but otherwise in good order and complete.
The Officer Cadet Battalion were formed to address the critical shortage of officers for front-line combat during the First World War, a reflection of the horrific casualty rates of Second Lieutenants who were often first 'over the top' in trench warfare.
"C" Company of the Officer Cadet Battalion were housed at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, from 1916 onwards and included a robust mixture of British and Australian officers in training. Some of the rivalry between the two groups is evident in this magazine, which includes chapters on both Rugby and Aussie Rules Football played at Cambridge, and two full-page photographic plates of the players.
The publisher, Heffer of Cambridge, had previously printed another humorous magazine written by men of the "C" Company of the Officer Cadet Battalion. It is titled 'A Glad Rag' and covers the period from late 1916 to March 1917.
Both Cheerio and A Glad Rag are rare. Despite their importance as a record of the daily life of Australian Officer Cadets in the First World War, we have not been able to locate any copies in Australian Institutional Collections (including the library of the National War Memorial in Canberra).
OCLC World Catalogue records a single copy of 'Cheerio ' in the University Library at Cambridge, and no other locations.
$1200, item #AP239
37. ROHMER, Sax.
Daughter of Fu Manchu.
Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, 1931.
Octavo, yellow cloth with bold black lettering on front cover and spine, 316 pp. A little mild discolouration affects the top edge of the boards, otherwise a fresh and attractive copy in the uncommon dust-jacket. The dust-jacket itself is split at the folds and a bit chipped, with a localised tape repair to the rear panel.
First American edition. Arthur Henry 'Sarsfield' Ward, Sax Rohmer, was a prolific British music hall comedy sketch writer, poet and fiction writer. Rohmer's interests for ancient Egypt, East Asia, the Middle East and the occult led him into fiction writing. Between 1912 and 1913, he published The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu (later retitled The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu) in serialised form. This marked the success of a long book series constituted of thirteen books revolving around the mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, a criminal mastermind and user of arcane methods, who, for most of the series, plots for world domination only to be stopped by his archnemesis, Sir Denis Nayland Smith, a police commissioner in the Indian Imperial Police.
Nonetheless, Fu Manchu, who seldom appeared on the page, and his daughter, Fah Lo Suee, were a distorted projection of Rohmer's stereotypes and racism towards Chinese culture and its people which contributed in misrepresenting the Chinese community. Daughter of Fu Manchu was published fourteen years after The Si-Fan Mysteries. Dr. Fu Manchu has been dead for several years now and yet there are those who doubt as to whether such a man could really have been killed. Meanwhile, Sir Lionel Barton, an archaeologist, dies in mysterious circumstances at an archaeological site in Egypt. Shan Greville, Barton's assistant receives a message which leads him to think that perhaps Sir Lionel may not be dead after all. As Greville confides in Dr Petrie, the latter notices uncanny similarities to earlier cases in which Dr. Fu Manchu was involved. Soon they find themselves engaged in a battle of wits with Lady Fah Lo Suee, Fu Manchu’s daughter.
$900, item #AP3755
38. ROHMER, Sax.
Re-Enter Dr. Fu Manchu. London: Herbert Jenkins, 1957.
Octavo, red cloth with spine lettering, 190 pp.
The endpapers have some tape marking, and the previous owner’s stamp ‘P. Parker’, light foxing, otherwise a very good copy in the dust-jacket.
First English edition. Arthur Henry 'Sarsfield' Ward, Sax Rohmer, was a prolific British music hall comedy sketch writer, poet and fiction writer. Rohmer's interests for ancient Egypt, East Asia, the Middle East and the occult led him into fiction writing. Between 1912 and 1913, he published. The Insidious Dr. Fu Manchu (later retitled The Mystery of Dr. Fu Manchu) in serialised form. This marked the success of a long book series constituted of thirteen books revolving around the mysterious Dr. Fu Manchu, a criminal mastermind and user of arcane methods, who, for most of the series, plots for world domination only to be stopped by his archnemesis, Sir Denis Nayland Smith, a police commissioner in the Indian Imperial Police.
Some have argued that the character of Fu Manchu was based on American music hall magician William Ellsworth Robinson going by the stage name of Chung Ling Soo and who wore a Mandarin costume and pigtail during his performances. Fu Manchu, who seldom appeared on the page, and his daughter, Fah Lo Suee, were a distorted projection of Rohmer's stereotypes and racism towards Chinese culture and its people which contributed in misrepresenting the Chinese community.
Re-Enter Dr. Fu Manchu is the twelfth book out of 13 in Rohmer's mystery series. The Cold War, the space race between the United States and the then U.S.S.R., as well as Mao Zedong's communist regime in China are used as a backdrop in this new instalment taking place in the 1950’s. After a decade-long absence, Dr. Fu Manchu re-emerges aiming to take control of China from the hands of the Chinese Communist Party. Sir Denis Nayland Smith pursues his enemy from London to Cairo to New York, determined to finally get his hands on Fu Manchu.
$250, item #AP3756
39. Rolls-Royce Limited.
Rolls-Royce Aero Engine "Eagle" Series I Engine Nos. 1/250/1 to 1/250/100
Instructions and Catalogue of Parts.
London: Rolls-Royce Limited, 1916.
Octavo, brown cloth, 176 pp., illustrated with tables, diagrams, and an index.
Cloth flecked on fore-edge and spine ends, some foxing, otherwise a good copy.
The first portion of this book provides instructions and general description for installing and running the engine as well as information on the lubrication and ignition system, cleaning and dismantling. The second part of this book forms a catalogue of parts regarding the engine units and components for the Eagle series I Engine Nos. 1/25/1 to 1/250/100.
Complete manuals on early aero-engines are scarce.
$500, item #AP2949
40. [Royal Australian Air Force].
Flying Log Book. Sir John Kerr AK, GCMG, GCVO, K ST J. QC No. 34 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force 10 July 1974 to 7 December 1977.
Sydney and Canberra: compiled by officers of the 34 Squadron, 1974-1977. Hardcover booklet measuring 195 x 223 mm., with a total of 45 double-sided leaves. Excellent condition.
This log book records the entire flight history of Sir John Kerr while acting Governor General of Australia.
Details of all flights are tabulated, including the aircraft type, identity and rank of the aircraft Captain on duty, route, distance and elapsed time. A running total indicates Sir John Kerr was airborne for 582 daylight and 46 night-time hours during his term of service.
The log book records the flights immediately relevant to the famous, and politically unprecedented, removal of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam from Office; including the meeting with Chief Justice Garfield Barwick on the ninth of November 1975, and the flight to Canberra on the following day, which was followed by the dismissal on the eleventh of November.
This specially bound copy was presented to Sir John Kerr upon retirement by officers of 34 Squadron, and has a titling leaf bound-in stating such. This is the only copy of this historically important aviation and political document.
$1500, item #AP1967
41. [ROYAL AIR FORCE].
Original Log Book of Australian Gunner Ronald Williams whilst Serving aboard Wellington and Lancaster Bombing Runs into Germany during 1944.
England: various localities, 1943-1944.
Standard issue R.A.F. gunners log-book with printed cloth covers. Well preserved with some recent additional biographical information loosely inserted.
Original flying log book of Warrant Officer Ronald Leslie Williams, a Sydney born gunner who served with RAF Wellington and Lancaster squadrons in many of the significant German raids of March and May 1944.
Ronald Williams was born in Marrickville, Sydney in 1924 and enlisted with the Royal Australian Air Force in early October 1942. This is his personal log book commencing after completion of training at the No. 2 Bombing and Gunnery School at Port Pirie South Australia. Williams finished up at Port Pirie in May 1943, and the next entry in his log-book starts in England on 4 September that year.
From September of 1943 to January 1944, he served as a gunner in a Lancaster Squadron, before recording a few Halifax flights through February of 1944. From the entries in this log-book it appears that much of this was preparatory experience for what followed in March and April of 1944.
As a gunner in Lancaster bomber 101 Squadron, Warrant Officer Williams participated in some of the heaviest bombings raids deep into Germany, including Stuttgart on the 15th of March, Frankfurt on the nights of the 18th and 22nd of March, Berlin on the 24th of March, Essen on the 26th of March and Nuremberg on the 30th of March. These were followed in April by sorties on Cologne, Düsseldorf and Schweinfurt. His RAAF record indicates that Flight Sergeant Ronald Leslie Williams was wounded during the infamous raid on Mailly-le-Camp in France on May 4th, 1944. He suffered from 'a superficial wound [in his] hand and a deeply embedded bullet fragments in his left shoulder with probable nerve injury' and was repatriated.
Given the high casualty rates for the deep German bombing raids, this log-book is a significant relic; and evidences the close collaboration between the Royal Air Force and Australian airmen such as Warrant Officer Williams.
$1200, item #2944
42. SAUNDERS, John Monk. Wings.
New York: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers, 1927.
Octavo, original blue cloth with embossed title, illustrated endpapers, v, 250 pp., frontispiece, seven double-sided plates.
Front hinge becoming tender, last two leaves of the text lightly stained, otherwise a lovely copy with the dust-jacket. The jacket itself is a bit rubbed with a few old tape repairs, but a complete and well preserved example nonetheless.
A scarce example of the photoplay edition with the rare pictorial dust-jacket nicely preserved.
As for the narrative itself, the dust-jacket blurb reveals this as sensationalist pulp: "John Powell in his flivver the Shooting Star, terrorised the sober citizenry of Temple, Washington, who prophesied a bad end for him. He had but one champion, the girl next door, who adored him. Powell, however, directed all his attentions toward Sylvia Lewis. When the war came, Powell found his way into the Air Service. The qualities that had brought him into disrepute at home, now served to make him a brilliant pilot; his flare for speed, his bent for mechanics, his nerve and daring. He was sent overseas as a member of the First Pursuit group. His flying mate at the front was David Armstrong. Theirs was a friendship begun at ground school and triplesealed by a series of desperate adventures in the air."
John Monk Saunders served in the Air Service during WWI as a flight instructor. After becoming an author, his experiences in the Air Service would prove useful as he wrote novels and screenplays about flyers. He wrote the screenplay for the movie Wings, which was the first film to win the Academy Award for best picture in 1929. In 1940, John Monk Saunders ended his life, and screenwriting career, by hanging himself.
$300, item #AP2632
43. SMITH, Sir Ross.
The First Aeroplane Voyage from England to Australia by Sir Ross Smith, K.B.E. New South Wales Edition with 27 Full-Page Aeroviews of Sydney, its Suburbs and some N.S.W. Country Towns, Taken from the “Vimy” by Capt. Frank Hurley.
Sydney: Angus & Robertson, [1920].
Oblong brochure in the original printed wrappers with string binding, 32 pp. Wrappers a bit creased and torn, but a very good copy overall.
A wonderful contemporary memento of the now legendary flight from England to Australia by Sir Ross Smith, accompanied by his brother Sir Keith Smith with aerial photographs taken by famed arctic photographer Frank Hurley.
Smith describes the origin of the idea of the England to Australia flight, hatched mid-air to Mesopotamia with Brigadier-General A.E. Borton. The impetus of the project was strengthened considerably when the Australian government offered a prize of ten thousand pounds to the first aircrew to complete the challenge. Two conditions were attached to the prize. Firstly, the pilots must be Australian, and secondly, the entire flight was to be completed within thirty days.
The hazards were numerous, even in a state-of-the-art Vickers-Vimy aeroplane specially prepared for the long-haul flight. At one hastily constructed aerodrome in the Dutch East Indies, the plane sank into the reclaimed marshland and could only be extracted with difficulty.
Nonetheless, Sir Ross Smith writes that upon arrival in Darwin 'the anxieties and hardships of the past were forgotten in the glamour of the present and anticipation of the future’. The duration of the journey, with all stops, was just under twenty-eight days, but the actual flying time was 135 hours. The distance covered was 11,340 miles.
$350, item #AP3009
44. STIRLING, Lieutenant Governor James; ROE, John Septimus and DALE, Ensign Robert.
Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River [bound with] Further Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River.
London: House of Commons, 1831.
Two foolscap parliamentary reports paginated 32 pp. and 20 pp. respectively (including the docket titles), bound in recent quarter crimson morocco with gilt spine lettering by Sangorski & Sutcliffe.
A Fine copy. Complete with the uncommon docket titles.
Two important and scarce foundation documents for the settlement of Western Australia, being the first two British parliamentary reports on the nascent colony.
The first report, titled Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River, and dated 28 February 1831, principally comprises a dispatch from Lieutenant Governor James Stirling to Sir George Murray, then acting Secretary of State for the Colonies. Beneath the polished gloss of a seasoned naval commander lies a description of the rough early months of settlement, marked by shipwreck and acute food shortages. Poor soils, unfamiliar seasons and a truly alien geography confounded the settlers; nonetheless Stirling is optimistic about future prospects with regard to flax and hemp, viticulture, olives, opium and tobacco. The fisheries are abundant and he mentions the prospect of drying and curing fish for export to Mauritius.
Nonetheless, the disappointment and conflicts inherent in the first year are obvious in the final paragraph of Stirling's report, where he laments 'many of the Settlers who have come should never have left a safe and tranquil State of Life; and if it be possible to discourage one set of people to encourage another, I would earnestly request that for a few years the helpless and inefficient may be kept from the Settlement, while to the active, industrious, and intelligent there may be assured with confidence a fair reward for their labours.'
In addition to Stirling's dispatch of five pages, the first report includes a General Muster of all persons in the colony (with personal details and occupations), a shipping report, land grants and livestock tables.
The second report, titled Further Returns Relative to the Settlement on the Swan River, printed 30 March 1831, contains more varied and interesting content regarding maritime and inland exploration. Two reports by John Septimus Roe concern recent coastal surveying voyages, with an eye to soils, fisheries and other pressing concerns of the settlers. A further three-page report by Ensign Robert Dale details inland exploration; and a final dispatch by Captain Frederick Irwin concerns armed conflicts with Aboriginal inhabitants, with the usual unhappy reprisals.
45. STUART, F.E. (editor)
Flying. The Official Journal of the Aero Club of New South Wales. Sydney: Published by the Club, 1931.
Twelve consecutive issues of the magazine, each measuring 233 x 285 mm., original striking pictorial covers bound in, bound in old purple cloth, front cover gilt lettered ‘Flying Journal’. A beautifully preserved set.
From the library of accomplished Australian aviation artist David Marshall, with his book-label. A rare survival from the golden age of Australian aviation, being a complete run of twelve issues of the monthly journal of the New South Wales Aero Club. The attractive colour covers are all well preserved, capturing some of the excitement and romance of flying in the early thirties.
The journal features numerous fascinating articles, many of which detail aviation in remote and rural areas of Australia. Of special interest are entries on Tasmanian civil aviation, the Narromine and Mount Gambier Air Pageants and the rise of Hargrave Air Park. Flying Boats feature prominently, as do other technical articles on radio communication systems, glider pilot training, trials of new models (including the Lascondor Saloon Monoplane and the novel Harkness-Hornet), and the like.
Each issue of the journal includes a scale model plane plan, with measurements. Loosely inserted is a price sheet for modelling materials (including balsa, dopes, propeller blanks and sundries) printed for Herbert Small Pty. Ltd. This company sold model aeroplane construction parts and sets, and lists three separate retail premises in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.
Complete runs of the Aero Club Journal are noteworthy, with only two substantial holdings in Australian institutional collections, at the National Library and State Library of New South Wales respectively. This bibliography is not listed in Ian McLaren's comprehensive bibliography Australian Civil Aviation (1994), or his earlier Bibliographical Survey (1958). Likewise, it is not noted in the respective bibliographies on Australian Aviation by Graeme Potter and Ian Wilson.
$500, item #1849
46. [Various authors].
Pastoral Homes of Australia Comprising Two Volumes from the First Series, Separately Titled ‘New South Wales & Queensland' (1911) and 'New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia & New Zealand' (1914).
Melbourne: published by the Pastoral Review, 1911 & 1914. Two volumes, in matching polished gilt calf bindings; paginated viii, 536 pages (1911), and viii, 442 pages (1914) respectively. Profusely illustrated throughout.
We are pleased to offer two volumes of the Pastoral Homes of Australia , a benchmark publication of Australian rural architecture featuring the finest rural homesteads and estates of the age. Any surviving volumes from this series are rare, as they were printed in limited numbers. The intended market for the books were the owners of the stations themselves – rather than the broader reading public.
The publication history of the Pastoral Homes of Australia is noteworthy for clarifying the scope and intention of each respective volume. The first series was issued between 1911 and 1914, and comprises four volumes in total. The second series (of three volumes) was issued some years later between 1929 and 1931, before this ambitious publishing venture was rendered non-viable in the hard years of the Great Depression.
Offered here in superb matching bindings are two volumes from the first series; respectively titled New South Wales & Queensland (1911) and New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia & New Zealand (1914). We believe that the second of these, being the broadest in scope, was the last of the first series and as such, was clearly intended to showcase only the very finest homesteads and grazing estates.
These two books have been recently bound by Sydney based master binder Isabelle McGowan, in a specially commissioned binding of gilt decorated polished calfskin. We feel that this special binding reflects the importance of this book as a cornerstone record of Australian rural architecture and station life.
In keeping with other subscriber issued deluxe editions of the early twentieth century, Pastoral Homes of Australia was originally bound in textured roan. This material wears poorly, making well preserved examples in the original bindings both rare and expensive.
As an example of the detail provided, the chapter treating Quaimong Estate near Deniliquin is typical. Quaimong Estate was the property of Mr. Percy Landale at the time of publication in 1914. Over sixteen pages detail both the homestead and many proud aspects of the cattle station. Images include the front drive from the homestead, verandah, rose garden, vegetable garden, various walks and bowers, the overseer's cottage and the woolsheds. As for the property, images include the billabong, overshot dam, stud rams, dray teams, dairy cattle, breaking in a filly, fine pasture country, and so forth.
Aside from the homesteads and landscapes featured, the Pastoral Homes of Australia showcases some of the finest merino rams of the era. For example, Canowie Estate in South Australia boasts 'Donald Dinnie', born in 1904 and father of some 1,052 lambs by 1912. Donald Dinnie commands a whole page photograph at the height of his career in 1907, with a full fleece and market valuation of some 1,200 guineas.
$12500, item #3368
47. WAGHORN, Thomas.
Letter to the Rt. Hon. Wm. Ewart Gladstone, M.P. Secretary of State of the Colonies, on the Extension of Steam Navigation from Singapore to Port Jackson, Australia.
London: Smith, Elder and Company, 1846.
Octavo, recent faux quarter calf, 56 pp. (last blank), folding map.
Title page is browned and thumbed, otherwise an acceptable copy.
A scarce pamphlet concerning the extension of steam navigation from Singapore to the Australian colonies, reflecting the enthusiasm for northern Australian settlement then popular in the 1840's.
The author, Thomas Waghorn, had an underwhelming naval career and served as a Bengal pilot before launching himself as a public proponent of steam navigation between India and Britain. Steam navigation from India to Singapore, and even further afield to the Australian colonies, was then a novel prospect filled with potential gain. Although Waghorn had a skill for keeping himself in the papers, he was self-delusional and lived in a fantasy world. Prone to violent fits of temper, he pestered politicians and statesmen for the better part of two decades with wild and fanciful schemes.
Unsurprisingly, Waghorn was a prolific pamphleteer, and this is one such example for raising public interest in his schemes. There is another edition of this pamphlet printed by George Mann and James Ridgway, and all are rare.
The contents are disparate and chaotic, but basically a scheme is proposed for a steam navigation route from Singapore to Java, then to Port Essington, followed by Wednesday Island (north of Cape York) and finally to Port Jackson.
Port Essington was a failed colonial outpost in remote northern-most Australia, settled in 1838 and abandoned in 1849. Opening the tropical north, then a vast and largely unknown wilderness, was an obsession of the 1840's and played into Waghorn's agenda of fund raising and self-promotion. He refers to the straggling malarial outpost as a second Singapore, celebrates the merits of its position and announces that the settlement of northern Australia will be far more rapid than expected. Credibility to these claims is garnered from more sober published accounts, such as the survey of northern Australia by John Lort Stokes in H.M.S. Beagle from 1837-1843.
The booklet touches on many other schemes, from raising Australian horses for India, to an entire sub-chapter of six pages on cast iron lighthouses. While there is no substance to any of it, the fact that a man so clearly filled with 'extraordinary ideas and gross ignorance' (ODB) was able to captivate public attention for so many years is extraordinary. Waghorn's fantasies engaged the frenetic (and often fanciful) nature of colonial speculation in mid-nineteenth century Great Britain.
The booklet is rare, and this is the Ingleton copy with his pencilled sale note $100 on the front endpaper (when sold by Angus and Robertson in the seventies). Institutional copies are likewise scarce, and we have been able to locate copies only at the State Library of New South Wales, and the National Library in Canberra.
$850, item #3721
48. [War Department].
Army Regulations Vol IV Series 45 to 145.
Washington: U.S. War Department, 1926- 1932.
Small quarto, Kalamazoo BA binder, approximately 150 pp., illustrated with diagrams, tables, and plates.
Cloth thumbed, some foxing, otherwise a good copy.
This publication comprises information on the U.S. Coast Artillery Corps and the identification of aircraft as well as some fundamental principles for the employment of the air service and the general provisions relating to the U.S. Air Corps.
There are other sections pertaining to the station and purpose of the U.S. Air Service, the sales of special aviation clothing, accoutrements and equipment as well as the assistance to civil aircraft and aviation pay for officers and enlisted men.
$300, item #AP2975
49. WATSON, Wing-Commander John and JONES, Louis. 3 Squadron at War. Foreword by Air Vice-Marshal H. N. Wrigley, C.B.E., D.F.C., A.F.C.
Carlingford, New South Wales: D.A.F. Squadron Association, 1959.
Octavo, dark blue cloth with gilt spine lettering, illustrated endpapers, xviii, 244pp., 8 double-sided plates.
A beautiful copy in good dust-jacket.
First edition, a scarce copy especially in dust-jacket. When World War Two broke out, No. 3 Squadron was deployed in the Middle-East to support the 6th Division of the Australian Army in a co-operation role. The squadron undertook missions around the Mediterranean throughout the war and integrated the Allies' Desert Force providing aerial support to the 8th Army.
For close air support, No. 3 Squadron flew the Gloster Gauntlet and Gladiator. For reconnaissance sorties, they used the Westland Lysander when they confronted Italian forces in Egypt and Libya. In 1941, they converted to the Curtiss P-40B/C Tomahawk in the Syria-Lebanon campaign. It was, however, with the use of the Kittyhawk P-40D and P-40N that No. 3 Squadron intensified air battles against the Italian Reggia Aeronautica and the German Luftwaffe. Evidence showed that the No. 3 Squadron was the DAF Kittyhawk squadron that targeted German forces at Mezzouna in Tunisia in Spring 1943 injuring German General Claus Von Stauffenberg. During the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy, No. 3 Squadron reequipped and flew the P-51 Mustang.
No. 3 Squadron had the greatest score of enemy aircraft shot down in the D.A.F. with 217 aircraft confirmed destroyed. The most notable pilots from the squadron were: Peter Turnbull, Pete Jeffrey, Al Rawlinson, Bobby Gibbes, Nicky Barr, Lou Spence and Brian Eaton.
$400, item #KC3301
50. WEBSTER, Sir Charles and FRANKLAND, Noble.
The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany 1939-1945.
London: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1961.
Four volumes, quarto, original green cloth. Vol. 1: xiv, 522 pp. Vol. 2: x, 322 pp. Vol. 3: x, 332 pp. Vol. 4: xiv, 530 pp. Frontispieces, numerous folding maps and strategic plans, and photo plates throughout the set.
Cloth moderately rubbed, rear board of the second volume heavily scratched, otherwise a very good set. The fourth and final volume has its dust-jacket.
First edition. The Strategic Air Offensive Against Germany is concerned with one of the most controversial aspects of World War Two: the bombing of German cities and their civilian populations. The three volumes of narrative by Sir Charles Webster and Dr. Noble Frankland outline bombing strategy, tactics, intelligence, and results. The fourth volume consists of five technical annexes, incorporating important documents and statistical tables.
The documentation underpinning this study relied on the massive field data collection efforts of the United States Strategic Bombing Study and a much smaller field study performed by the British. Instead of a British mission of a thousand, Churchill, in one of his periodic fits of economy, offered some twenty or thirty persons for the British data collection work. Thus, the study relied heavily on the American data, possibly favouring the study’s conclusion that area bombing concentrating on attacking cities supported by the British through Sir Arthur Harris (documented in his book Bomber Offensive) achieved less than American bombing concentrating on attacking transportation and oil production.
$450, item #AP240
51. WIDMER, Emil J.
Military Observation Balloons. London: Crosby Lockwood & Son, 1918.
Octavo, black cloth with lettering stamped in gilt, vii, 152 pp., an additional 24 pages of publisher’s advertising, frontispiece, two plates, profusely illustrated. Water stain mark on leaves at top-edge, one folding plate missing, otherwise a good copy.
This book focuses on the manufacture, equipment, inspection, and handling of military observation balloons. It provides an interesting and thorough survey of the field. Military Observation Balloons is based on the balloon manual of the German Army and includes drill and equipment in use at the beginning of World War One. Possibly the only contemporary publication on the use of balloons for intelligence gathering in World War one.
52. WILKIE, Major A. H.
Official War History of the Wellington Mounted Rifles Regiment 19141919.
Auckland: Whitcombe & Tombs, 1924.
Octavo, original lettered brown cloth, [xvi], 260 pp., 18 double sided photo plates, 22 maps (many folding, including the large map of Palestine bound at the rear). Additional to the listed plates is a colour plate of the insignia of 2, 6, and 9 Squadron and the Hat-Band.
Touch of flecking affects the cloth, spine ends a bit rubbed, but a handsome copy overall, internally excellent.
One of the great New Zealand regimental histories of the First World War, remarkable for its comprehensive series of photographic plates detailing many aspects of the Gallipoli campaign, with excellent maps. Fittingly, the book is prefaced by the famous poem of Rupert Brooke, another Gallipoli casualty, titled 'Dedicated to the Memory of the Fallen who Died that we Might Live'.
Iconic Gallipoli images include a battlefield on Armistice Day, the beach landing, two images of Walker's Ridge, a view from the heights into Sulva Bay, the famous periscopic riflemen, Destroyer Ridge, Big Table Top, Camel's Hump and so forth. Likewise, the maps have been carefully prepared and include detailed small-scale battle plans, through to entire operational campaigns. For example, the map of Hill 60 details the disposition of both Ghurkas and New Zealand infantry. Aside from extensive fighting on the Gallipoli Peninsula, the Wellington Mounted Rifles fought in Egypt (Romani, Bir El Abd, Katia), Palestine (Gaza, Beersheba, Ras El Nagh, Jaffa, Jerusalem) and the Jordan Valley.
$650, item #AP2347
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