Christmas and New Year Greeting Souvenir of Australasia 1891-1892. Issued by the Officers of the Post and Telegraph Departments.
Melbourne & Sydney: Tatchell, Garritty & Dobson, 1891 - 1892.
Walter Withers, Ernest Ferris, Fred Kneebone, and John Clemens.
First Edition.
A celebration of the Australian Christmas with illustrations by one of the founding members of the Heidelberg School, Walter Withers.
Issued as a souvenir by the Post and Telegraph Departments, this charming work includes many portraits of the government officers, together with depictions of their offices ranging from the Sydney General Post Office to the Alice Springs Telegraph Station. It is further illustrated by many 'picture postcard' views of Australian and New Zealand cities and landscapes.
This is the only recorded publication by the artists, Fred Kneebone and Ernest Ferris, but all three artists have almost equal shares in the production. Walter Withers first arrived in Melbourne in 1883 but did not settle there until 1888, opening his Melbourne studio in 1891.
Produced when Australia began to suffer deeply from the depression of the 1890s, the artists would have been glad for the income derived from this publication as it was around this time that Withers seriously contemplated returning to England due to lack of work.
A surprisingly rare production with only a handful of holdings in Australian libraries. Formerly in the Ingleton Collection, with his bookplate and shelf number.
Oblong octavo, bound in original decorated wrappers, illustrated throughout, rebacked with paper spine, a very good copy.
Price (AUD): $1,950.00 other currencies