CLARKE, Percy.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Valley Council, or leaves from the Journal of Thomas Bateman of Canbelego Station, N.S.W. First edition of this very scarce future world novel set in Australia, "the first part of the book is interesting for Australian slang and folkways" (Bleiler). Fantasy collector George Locke never saw a copy of the first edition and had to make do with the remainder issue put out by another publisher.Bleiler calls it a "mixture of would-be satire, social theory, and sensation fiction", remarking "the land of the Valley Council was founded about 150 years earlier by British colonists who set up a socialist (i.e. communist) republic with strange customs and laws. Everything, including housing and sexual relations, is owned or controlled by the state, but the state officials are changed on an almost daily basis. Thus, one day's president may be the next day's launderer".Born in Wolverhampton, Clarke (1861-1948) was the son of Henry Clarke JP of Cannon Hall, Hampstead (later the home of actor-manager Gerald du Maurier). After practising as a solicitor he left briefly for Australia in 1884, publishing two other books based on his experiences: the novel Three Diggers (1889) and the travelogue The "New Chum" in Australia (1886); and a collection of 12 etchings of Australian views (1886).

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