61 Percy Leason (Australian, 1889-1959)
Protecting His Reputation [Jack Lang], c1930. Ink drawing, captions
and signed lower centre and right, typewritten title on slip
attached to lower border, 43 x 31cm. Slight soiling, stains and
foxing overall, pinholes to borders.
Captions
include "Law Reform Bill / Defamation of Public Men / A
Criminal Offence." Jack Lang was Premier of NSW in 1925-1927
and 1930-1932, before being dismissed from office in 1932 by
Sir Phillip Game.
$2,200
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62 Andrew Barton
"Banjo" Paterson
(Australian, 1864-1941)
[Banjo Paterson Portrait And Letter], c1931. Silver gelatin photograph
by unknown photographer, with letter by Paterson to Dorothea
McKellar, dated "Redbank, 2nd June 1931" and signed
in ink on blue paper, 12.7 x 7.9cm (image), 17.3 x 13.3cm (double-sided
letter). Framed together, with page one of the letter displayed
as a facsimile.
The
letter reads "I think the idea of a fellowship a good one,
but I have seen a lot of such movements die out here, because
the writers as a rule have no money. Why not found a club, like
the Savage Club in London, of which I was a member. A club of
this sort is open to all people of literary or artistic instincts,
and draws a pretty wide support. My experience is that a fellowship
limited to poets and writers is not sufficiently broadly based
to have any more than a temporary existence. With best wishes,
yours truly." Paterson adds a post script, "Would like
to know what you think of the Club idea."
In 1931, Dorothea Mackellar, (who had ceased writing in the 1920s
due to ill health) along with Ruth Bedford, established the Sydney
branch of the London-based international literary society, PEN
(Poets, Essayists, Novelists). She wrote letters to many writers
and poets, asking if they would be interested in joining. This
letter from A.B. Paterson is in response to one such enquiry.
Founding members included C.E.W. Bean, le Gay Brereton, A.H.
Chisholm, Zora Cross, George Mackaness, Steele Rudd, Kenneth
Slessor, Ethel Turner and many others. A.B. Paterson is well-known
for his quintessential Australian poems The Man from Snowy River,
Clancy of the Overflow and The Man from Ironbark. Dorothea Mackellar
(1883-1968) wrote her evocative poem, My Country, in 1908, her
most lasting work and one that has become a national patriotic
refrain.
$4,900
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63 Anon
[A Gathering Of Australian Authors], c1935. Silver gelatin photograph,
autographs of sitters in ink on image, Sydney Morning Herald
and Sydney Mail copyright stamp and publishing annotations in
pencil in an unknown hand verso, 17.7 x 24.2cm. Silvering to
image, minor surface loss and glue remnants verso.
Autographs
include Ethel Turner (1870-1958), author of Seven Little Australians;
Ion Idriess (1889-1979), author of over 50 books including Prospecting
for Gold (he was once a gold fossicker); Dulcie Deamer (1890-1972),
bohemian author, poet and playwright; Marjorie Quinn; J.H. Abbott;
Winifred Barnett; Frank Dalby Davidson; and J. Bailie(?).
$1,650
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64 John Elischer (Austrian/Australian, 1891-1966)
Fame [Bust Of Graham Kennedy], c1960s. Hand-painted slip-cast
ceramic, title embossed and painted at lower centre of front
of bust, signed centre of right side, 27.3 x 15.5 x 12.5cm. Minor
scuffs and soiling.
Graham
Kennedy (1934-2005) was an actor, entertainer, broadcaster and
comedian. Famed for his irreverent and subversive wit, in his
prime Kennedy pushed boundaries and was responsible for some
of the most memorable, and controversial moments on Australian
television during the 1960s and 1970s. It is likely that this
bust was produced by the company Gloweave, to promote its shirts
by cashing in on Graham Kennedy's fame in the 1960s. The sculptor
John Elischer was born in Vienna, and studied in Paris under
Rodin from 1910-1911. After service in World War I Elischer freelanced
as a sculptor and migrated to Australia in 1935. One of his most
notable Australian works is the bust of Archbishop Mannix, modelled
for Newman College, Melbourne. In 1951 he was awarded the Commonwealth
Jubilee Prize for Medal Design.
$3,300
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65 William Dobell (Australian, 1899-1970)
Letter to Thomas, 1965. Letter in ink by Dobell on personal stationery
with silver gelatin photograph of Dobell taken by an unknown
photographer. Photograph annotated in ink in an unknown hand
verso. 20.2 x 12.6cm (letter); 6.5 x 10cm (photograph). Some
discolouration, old folds and smudges to letter; slight stains,
silvering and foxing to photograph.
Stationery
letterhead reads "William Dobell, Wangi Wangi, New South
Wales." Letter reads "Wangi Wangi. 30.10.65. Dear Thomas,
please thank your Mummy for her very nice letter, which I appreciated
very much. I know that you will understand when I tell you that
I can not see people at the moment, we have serious illness in
the home and I am very busy. I wish you all the very best in
everything. Sincerely, William Dobell." Annotation on photograph
verso reads "D.G. Hadfield, 7 'Dalmeny', 20 Cremorne Road,
Cremorne. XY 1292."
$1,900
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