Aboriginal Australian String Figures   by D.S. Davidson.

(ISBN 0 85905 369 5),  1941 / 2006, Soft Cover, 141pp, 200 grams.

Davidson collected these figures, mainly in WA, in the 1930s. Some 112 are illustrated and their creation described. This is a native art form now lost due to the inroads of TV- videos etc. a microcosm of our own cultural losses.   New

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Early Woodlines of the Goldfields   Edited by Phil Bianchi, Peter Bridge and Ray Tovey.

(ISBN 0 85905 373 3),  A4 perfect bound, 132 pp, illustrated, 380 grams.

The untold story of the Woodlines to World War II. This book is a collection of newspaper articles and letters to the editor that appeared in newspapers such as The Sun, The West Australian and The fertile field of information, and have been assembled into groups and then in chronological order, so particular themes can be followed.   New 

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Iron in the Fire     by Edgar Morrow.

(ISBN 0 85905 360 1),  2006 Reprint of the 1934 edition, Soft Cover, 136pp, 190 grams.

Edgar Morrow (1896-1953), was born in Lancashire, England and arrived in Western Australia as a youth of twelve with his family to go farming at Dongerlocking. At the start of World War I he enlisted in the 28th Battalion, attaining the rank of Corporal and served in Gallipoli and France, where he was twice wounded.

His book Iron in the Fire, first published in 1934, is one of the few literary works from Western Australian authors of their experiences during the War and is considered among the best from an Australian writing of that great conflict.

He joined the WA Police in 1920 and his service took him to many remote parts of the State. In 1937 'The Law Provides', an account of his adventurous career in the North West and Kimberley, was published. He also wrote several plays for the ABC and was a contributor to The Diggers Diary page of the old Western Mail using the pseudonym of "E 28". In 1925 he married Mary Forrest and of their five children, Harry, Margaret, Bevan, Forrest and Ann, two, Harry and Forrest, served in the WA Police Force. He died while still a serving member of the Police Force. 

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Life and Adventure in Northern Australia  by Thomas Traine.

(ISBN 0 85905 367 9),  2005, A4 Perfect bound, 62pp, illustrated, 190 grams.

Tom Traine was one of the overlanders from Queensland to the West in the 1880s. His story covers the opening of the Barkley Tablelands, Black Jack Reid, the Ragged Thirteen, aboriginal encounters, running pubs and stations and the first development of Port Hedland.  

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Engrossing ...... a living history. The fascinating observations and life of Father Seraphim Sanz, a Benedictine monk, who served his God at Kalumburu, an isolated Aboriginal Mission in Australia's Far North West. and the impressions of an amazing Aboriginal elder, Dolores Djinmora who worked along side Father Sanz in his Christian endeavours. ..... (Diana Temby, Executive Director, Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission).

A fascinating account - Father Seraphim Sanz and Dolores Djinmora describe the lives and conditions of the Aboriginal people of the far flung Kalumburu Benectine Mission in the Kimberley of Western Australia from the 1930's to the present .... a living history of a time little known or understood. ..... (Hon. Justice James Macken, QC OAM).

When the true story of Australia 's involvement with the far North Kimberley comes to be written, few local reputations will survive wholly untarnished. But one name will stand out: that of the Spanish missionary monk, Dom Seraphim Sanz, whose profound, self-sacrificing love for the indigenous people of Kalumburu has been measured out over the course of six decades. These pages, published only after long struggle, detail the observations and reflections of a remarkable man condemned to live through dark times. ..... (Nicolas Rothwell, Author "Heaven and Earth" ).    New   

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On Australia's Rim   Edited by W.J. de Burgh.

(ISBN 0 85905 361 X),  2006, Soft Cover, A4, 142pp, 400 grams.

Jean Christopher de Lancourt, an enigmatic "French" traveller, raconteur, and soldier, wrote of his experiences while walking around Australia for a wager. Bill de Burgh has collected and annotated the articles commissioned by his uncle at The West Australian. Accused of being a bludger, rogue and spy, in language today reserved for erring historians, he eventually fell out with his companion in N Q. This resulted in some surprising revelations. It is still not known who he really was, or what was his eventual fate. De Lancourt is one of those many mystery characters of the bush. Included are his Arnhem Land Aboriginal legends.     New 

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On the Aborigines of Australia  by Augustus Oldfield, edited by H. Henderson.

(ISBN 0 85905 359 8)  1861/ 2006, Hardcover, 132pp, 290 grams.  

A limited casebound numbered edition of 250 copies.

Augustus Oldfield was a botanical collector with a great interest in Aboriginals.  Oldfield was a botanical collector with a great interest in Aboriginals. This 1864 work with an extensive introduction by H.H. is virtually unknown to anthropologists and is not known in most libraries. It describes the natives of the Port Gregory area at the mouth of the Murchison River in a detail that few others aspired to until the 1890s. Graphic descriptions of customs and incidents of life (and death). New 

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To King George the Third Sound for Whales   By Rod Dickson.  

(ISBN 0 85905 372 5), 2006, Hard Cover, 174pp, Hard Cover, 174pp, illustrated. 480grams.

A limited edition of 500 copies. 

A voyage aboard the British Whaling Vessel 'Kingston' of London , Captain Thomas Dennis. 1800-1802. Transcribed from the original ship’s logbook by Rod Dickson.

This is the second of the Exploration Diaries series to be published.

The historical importance to Western Australia of the Kingston ’s log book was unknown until discovered by Rod Dickson in the Alexander Library, Perth . It details the origins of the first European industry in Western Australia. Truly, merchants make history!

The log book is marvellously descriptive and the writer produced an enduring record of a secret two year voyage carried out by two small ships owned by the London merchant and whaling ship owner, Daniel Bennett. The Kingston , Captain Dennis and the Elligood, Captain Dixon, were sent to New Holland for whales, with instructions to examine King George the Third Sound, then proceed to Sharks Bay and the North West coast before returning via Madagascar and southern Africa .

The incidents recorded are both the amusing and horrifying. In 1800  Britain and France were at war and any vessel wishing to proceed from the Thames to the West Indies or the South Seas had to sail to the Solent and form into convoys guarded by ships of the Royal Navy.

The Kingston 's convoy was escorted by three of H.M. ships, one of which was H.M.S. Snake, a sloop of war. Shortly after clearing the English Channel , the Commander of the Snake, Captain J.M. Lewis decided to hold a gun drill. His seamen and gunners were timed during the loading and running out of the 18 pounder great guns, the black powder in the touch holes was lit and within seconds a massive broadside was fired.

Unfortunately one of the massive guns was still loaded with ball and when fired was aimed directly at a merchant ship, the 'Salamander'. The shot penetrated the hull, just as the vessel rolled, three feet below the waterline. A boats crew from the Kingston went across to assist in keeping the 'Salamander' afloat until repairs were effected.

Another incident in this two year long voyage was a whipping round the fleet. The Cooper of the 'Cornwall ', another South Seas whaler, allegedly committed mutiny and for that he was sentenced to 150 lashes with the cat-o-nine tails. Thirty lashes alongside of each of five vessels as a warning to all. Of the crews Captain Dixon and nine of his seamen died horribly of the dreaded scurvy and are buried at sea between New Holland and Madagascar. New   

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Toodyay Homesteads    by Rica Erickson & Rhonda Taylor.

(ISBN 0 85905 362 8), 2005, Soft Cover, 196 pages, 260 grams.

Toodyay Homesteads, Past and Present is an invaluable book for anyone interested in Western Australia's rural heritage. It describes the evolution of the Toodyay District and the farming properties that have operated since the 1830s and 1840s. New 

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Yundamindra   by  Alec Palmer. 

(ISBN 0 85905 370 9), 2006, Soft Cover, 138pp, illustrated, 190 grams.

The history of the town, station and surrounding mining areas of Yundamindra.  Cradled between the ancient shorelines of Lakes Raeside and Carey are found the old gold mining centres of Yundamindra Linden, Pennyweight Point, Pykes Hollow, Eucalyptus and Yundamindra Pastoral Station. Their story, together with the lives of the folk, black and white, who forged a living here over the years are brought together in Yundamindra's pages.  New

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