The Hobart Town Almanack, for the year 1830.

£2,500 · Offered by Maggs Bros Ltd

A lovely copy of this rare work in the publisher’s cloth. The plates are engraved by the convict artist, Thomas Bock. They are after originals by Frankland, Dalrymple and Lemprière. Hackforth-Jones writes of Bock: “As a result of his work for James Ross, the proprietor of the Hobart Town Almanack, Bock’s skill as an engraver was further recognised. Most of the illustrations for the 1829, 1839, and 1835 almanacks were engraved by him and some also drawn by him. These plates … are competently engraved with finely-incised detail.” The plates include a views of the residence of Joseph Hone, a view of Hobart, Macquarie Street, Ross Bridge, the punt at Perth, the Fall of the Derwent, and Macquarie Harbour. James Ross arrived in Tasmania in 1822, with a recommendation from Governor Lachlan Macquarie and just over £1300 in capital. He worked as a tutor, eventually for the likes of Lieutenant-Governor George Arthur’s children, though his initial hopes to establish a school were abandoned. In 1825 he was appointed, with George Howe, government printer. Their partnership dissolved within two years and in January 1827 “Ross was appointed to sole charge of the government printing office in February and in March Howe began publishing the Tasmanian in Hobart. Under the new arrangement the Hobart Town Gazette was an official weekly paper containing government announcements but no comment or discussion. In October Ross began to publish weekly also the Hobart Town Courier , an independent news

• Year: 1830

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