Find Lots

• 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 #:
  310
• Lot Description:
  Tolmer, Alexander (illustrated by). Robe Town. Embarkation of His Excellency Sir James Fergusson, Bart.
  &c, June 12, 1869. Drawn by A. Tolmer [cover title]. Oblong quarto, with a panoramic view of Robe Town, South Australia, with five tinted lithographic panels (140 x 1220 mm extended), cased in marbled boards, with original endpapers retained and the original gilt titling label mounted, preserved in a folding cloth case. Melbourne, E. Whitehead & Co. [for the Author?], circa 1870.
• Notes:
  Extremely rare: privately-printed and of highly limited distribution, we can find no record of a copy sold at auction. This is – as presumably all were – a presentation copy, inscribed by Tolmer on the front endpaper to “Mrs Dunn, with Mr. Tolmer’s kind regards, April 21st, 1871”. Tolmer, born in England in 1815, emigrated to South Australia in 1840. His military experience led to his immediate appointment as sub-inspector of police. Governor Gawler had him establish a mounted police troop which he led actively and successfully for many years. His work involved travelling through districts on the edge of habitation, among other things settling disputes between settlers and Aborigines. In 1847 he opened an improved mail route with New South Wales. In 1852 he was appointed Commissioner of Police but was soon demoted for poor leadership and because of his frequent absences on the gold escort which he had established to carry bullion from the Victorian diggings to South Australia. This successful escort helped reverse the drain of currency which South Australia had suffered with the outbreak of the gold rushes. In 1856 he left the force but was not successful in trade nor on the land. In 1859 he led one of the early unsuccessful expeditions which attempted to cross Australia from south to north. With this 1870 work, somewhat sycophantically titled, he hoped perhaps to ingratiate himself with the governor. In 1882 he published his best known book, Reminiscences of an Adventurous and Chequered Career at Home and at the Antipodes, an “engaging and egotistical work” (ADB). There appear to be only two institutional copies of his rare Robe Town view book: a complete copy in the State Library of South Australia; and David Scott Mitchell’s copy in the State Library of New South Wales, which evidently lacks one of the five panels.
• Estimate:
  A$15,000 - 20,000
• Realised Price:
  *****
  

  Can't see the realised price? Upgrade your subscription now!

• Category:
  Books & Manuscripts

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