Hymns Ancient and Modern

A$3,750 · Offered by Douglas Stewart Fine Books

Limited edition

Melbourne : The Atlas Press (W. H. Newlands), Block Place, 1898. First and only edition. Small octavo (190 x 125 mm), original stiff green wrappers printed in black and red (spine expertly repaired); title-page stamped With the author s compliments , pp. [1-6], 7-70; scattered foxing, mostly marginal but more pronounced on the preliminary and last few leaves, else internally very good; housed in a custom clamshell box of matching green cloth with gilt-lettered morocco title-piece to spine. Extremely scarce copy of this notorious collection of verse by the controversial composer, conductor and professor of music G. W. L. Marshall-Hall. Although privately printed and received well by his circle of liberal-minded friends, many of them fellow musicians and artists such as Streeton, Roberts and the Lindsays, the appearance of this publication caused a scandal in late nineteenth-century Melbourne. In early 1891 London-trained Marshall-Hall arrived in Australia to take up the University of Melbourne s new chair of music. His atheist views and bohemian personality very soon began to ruffle feathers in the establishment and to shock a generally conservative public. However, his obvious musical prowess and talent for leadership proved a worthy counter to any potential official censure: in 1892 he formed the enormously popular and successful Marshall-Hall Orchestra, and in 1895, with William Laver, he helped establish the Melbourne University Conservatorium. Still, his approach to teach

• Binding: Hardcover

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