Description of the Barossa Range and its neighbourhood, in South Australia.

A$22,000 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Limited edition

By Agricola . Illustrated with maps and coloured plates, from original drawings made on the spot, by George French Angas. London : Smith, Elder, Co., Cornwall, 1849. Quarto, recent half-calf over original embossed cloth-covered boards, original gilt-lettered title label to upper board; marbled endpapers; pp. 20, with six fine hand-coloured lithographed plates (tissue guards intact) and a map ( Plan of special surveys in 80 acre sections in the Barossa Range, South Australia ); occasional light foxing, a fine copy. One of the most beautiful Australian colour plate books. This rare illustrated book, with plates by George French Angas, was designed to promote emigration to the fertile Barossa Valley in South Australia. Authorship has traditionally been attributed to John Howard Angas, brother of the artist George French Angas. However, as Philip Jones states in his authoritative recent monograph, there is little doubt that George Fife prepared the text, albeit with assistance from his sons and from George Gawler (Philip Jones, Illustrating the Antipodes. George French Angas in Australia and New Zealand 1844-184. Canberra : NLA, 2021, p. 97). The nom de plume Agricola alludes to the Roman general and ruler of Britain whose name conjures up ideals of prosperous agricultural settlement. The book was designed to promote South Australia rather than as a vehicle for Angas s illustrations. Even so, it is a most attractive work. The lithographs are of special interest since for the firs

• Binding: Hardcover

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