Go Back

John Degotardi (Aust., 1823–1882).

Plan Of 42 Allotments On The Point Piper Road, Adjoining Woollahra [NSW]

1870. Lithograph, date and title in image lower right, annotated in pencil verso, 42.6 x 34.9cm. Old folds and handling creases, minor tears to margins.

Text continues “F.H. Reuss, Architect & Surveyor, 142 Pitt Street, Sydney. J. Degotardi, lithog. 287 George St., 1870.” Annotation erroneously reads “Plan of St James, Glebe.” Provenance: Thorn family by descent. Held in State Library of NSW.

Some of the street names on the plan have changed, i.e., Point Piper Road to Jersey Road, and Little Thorn Street to High Street. Some of the residences, still standing, are noted: Cotham and Thornbank.

Yugoslavian-born printer and photographer John Degotardi became a compositor with the firm of J. Wertheim in London in 1848. In 1853 he arrived at Sydney, worked briefly for the Sydney Morning Herald, and then established a business as an engraver and printer at 20 York Street where he published a monthly magazine, The Spirit of the Age, from 1855 to 1856. Degotardi was “always deeply interested in photography, but its appeal was quickened by the introduction of the wet-plate process and the invention of photolithography by John Osborne of Melbourne in August 1859.” In 1861, he printed a 24-page pamphlet entitled The Art of Printing in its Various Branches, the first publication of its kind to be issued in Australia. Degotardi was also the first Australian to realise the potential of combining photography with printing. His high standards won him awards at four exhibitions held in Australia and overseas. Ref: Australian Dictionary of Biography.

.
Item #CL207-3

Price (AUD): $2,200.00  other currencies