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• Auction House:
  Mossgreen
• Sale Name:
  The Denis Joachim Collection
• Sale Date:
  19 Jun 2016 ~ 2pm - Session 1: Lots 1 - 321
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 10am - Session 2: Lots 322 - 480
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 2pm - Session 3: Lot 481 - 688
  20 Jun 2016 ~ 6pm - Session 4: Lots 689 - 818
• Lot #:
  152
• Lot Description:
  Melville, Harden Sidney. Sketches in Australia and the adjacent Islands
  selected from a number taken during the surveying voyage of H.M.S. “Fly” and “Bramble” under the command of Capt. F.P. Blackwood, R.N. during the years 1842 – 46. by Harden S. Melville, Draftsman to the Expedition. Oblong octavo, pp. [vi] (title, dedication, and preface leaves, versos blank) + 25 lithographs, each with a leaf of descriptive text (lacking that to plate 3), bound with the pictorial wrapper in old half morocco, all gilt edges, with Belltrees bookplate of Henry L. White. London, Printed and published by Dickinson & Co., [1849].
• Notes:
  First and only edition: rare and much-prized. Harden S. Melville, son of the London engraver Henry Melville, by whom he was taught, sailed as expedition artist on the surveying voyage of H.M.Ss. Fly and Bramble between 1842 and 1846. He illustrated several Australian works, most notably Jukes’s official narrative of the Fly voyage and Leichhardt’s Journal. His most significant and lasting achievement was this outstanding collection of lithographed views of scenes in Australia and the surrounding islands. The Australian views include depictions of North Queensland, Port Essington and North Australia, the Swan River settlement, the Port Phillip District, Van Diemen’s Land, and New South Wales, while the New Guinea views are among the earliest detailed depictions of the mainland and its islands. The limited evidence relating to the publication of this book suggests that Melville effectively published it himself. Issued both with the plates uncoloured and in a special handcoloured issue, Melville’s book, in any form, is one of the rarest Australian and Pacific illustrated works. Ferguson, 5109; Kerr, p. 526-7; Tooley English Books, 324; Wantrup, 242a.
• Estimate:
  A$10,000 - 15,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

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• Category:
  Books & Manuscripts

This Sale has been held and this item is no longer available. Details are provided for information purposes only.