Earlier this year I acquired a second edition (1942) of The Great Boomerang , with a typical salutation from Idriess, dated '42, and addressed To the Rev John Calder (as above). It's interesting to find out more about some of the people Idriess interacted with. It quickly became apparent, after a bit of Googling, that the only Rev John Calder who fit the bill in Australia was the one who at this time was minister of St Peter's Presbyterian Church, North Sydney. Idriess was not, I think, a church goer. Perhaps far from it. So I can only speculate as to how and why they met. In 1942 Ion Idriess turned 53 and the Rev Calder was 67 years old. It may have been simply that Rev Calder had an interest in the ideas espoused in The Great Boomerang and bought the book. And, as Idriess was often in residence at Angus and Robertson, 89 Castlereagh St, Sydney at this time, writing and signing books, he may have taken the opportunity for Idriess to sign his copy. Another point of contact may have been their war experience. Idriess fought in the Great War (WWI), in Gallipoli and Palestine (as described in The Desert Column ) and Rev Calder served as Captain-Chaplain in France in the war. Rev Calder was ministering at Forbes, NSW, when he enlisted as a chaplain on the 21/1/1917 at the age of 41 years and 8 months! He did not return to Australia until January 1920, but during his time on the front he was Mentioned In Despatches (M.I.D.). Idriess returned - invalided - about 2 years earlier. But both men were also trying to do their bit in WWII as well - and perhaps their paths crossed because of that. Idriess was feverishly writing books about and for the war effort (as well as other books - about 10 were published from 1939 to 1945), including the prescient (How) Must Australia Fight , The Guerilla Series and The Silent Service . He also wrote letters to the newspapers about aspects of the war, and even to PM Robert Menzies and Supreme Commander General Douglas MacArthur. He also offered his services - as part of a coast-watch system, if nothing else. Meanwhile the Rev Calder had again volunteered his services as a chaplain, and served units stationed nearby in the early war years. There is another explanation as to their meeting up. It is possible that Ion Idriess and Rev Calder were known to each other before 1942 and the common denominator may have been the Very Rev John Flynn. Idriess wrote the seminal work about Flynn - Flynn of the Inland - in 1932 (10 March). Flynn, when he was in Sydney, was part of the St Peter's congregation: he was an Elder there from 1914 until his death in 1951. There is a plaque at St Peter's acknowledging this. Meanwhile Rev Calder served at St Peter's from 1924 (after moving there from Wagga Wagga - he had moved from Forbes to Wagga Wagga after coming back from the war in 1920) until his retirement and subsequent death in 1962. So it is possible, and maybe likely, that in the course of his research and meetings with the Rev John Flynn, that Ion Idriess had also met the Rev John Calder at St Peter's. We may never know exactly how and why they met. But meet they did! It's there in writing in my Idriess book!

The Bibliography on this site has this information: TitleVerso - The 1st edition/1st state of this book states  "First edition, November 1937, 10,000 copies" on the title verso (the 1st edition/2nd state does not). Both 1st and 2nd state title verso have “Set up, printed and bound” etc. But Feain and Aroney, Ion Idriess: An Annotated and Illustrated Bibliography, say; There are two known variants, both in red cloth and dust wrapper. The first variant has a yellow wrap-a-round with First printing 10,000 copies . . . and the verso of the title page simply states the publishing date, 1937. The second known variant states First edition, November, 1937. 10,000 copies on the verso of the title page. Feain and Aroney don't say which state (which they term "variant") came first, unless by The first variant, they mean first in time, and this may be the case, or they may just mean there were two variations (in which case it would have been clearer to say, One variant has a yellow . . . the other known variant states . . . ). However that may be, which was the first state? Was it in fact the one that states First edition, November 1937, 10,000 copies on the verso as per this site's Bibliography? Or was it the one that just gives the 1937 date, as Feain and Aroney may be indicating? First, for a definition of "state" see the article Editions, Impression and Printings in the News and Articles section of this Forum. Second, it should be noted that there were four editions of Over the Range in 1937: Two in November (Feain and Aroney have October! But both the second and third editions note two November editions) and two in December. But the two states (or variations) we are considering are of the first edition: that is, the first printing in November. Third, I have copies of both states (unfortunately, sans Dust Jackets!). Is one more valuable than the other? Not according to this site: the Bibliography just gives a price for first edition without regard to state. So which state came first? And does it matter? Well, just as first editions are more valuable than second editions, so, it would be assumed, are first states more valuable than second. So, is the first state the book that has First edition, November 1937, 10,000 copies on the verso (and it should be noted this is the correct punctuation, not that as given in Feain and Aroney)? The reasoning for thinking this is the first state is perhaps that the run began with these words on the verso (and a corresponding wrap around band - The dustwrapper for the 1st ed/1st state had a wrap around band, says the Bibliography on this site and Feain and Aroney have a photo of the yellow wrap-a-round with the words, FIRST PRINTING 10,000) , and then was dropped for the rest of the run. But to my thinking, this would be very unusual. It is more likely that words would be added to a print run. And in this case it seems likely, without other information brought to bear, that at some point in the print run it was decided to add the words First edition, November 1937, 10,000 copies to the verso to correspond with the (earlier) wrap-a-round. This is the way Feain and Aroney have it: The wrap-a-round came with the state that has just the date; The First edition, November 1937, 10,000 copies information was added later in the run and the wrap-a-round was no longer added; but perhaps there was some overlap with the wrap-a-round and the two states. Which is first? Who has the wrap-a-round on their edition and which state corresponds to it? But if the wrap-a-round over-lapped both states, we may never know. But here is one more piece of information: One of my first edition copies of Over the Range - the edition state that only has the 1937 date - has an inscription: To Mr Atherton. With the Publishers' Compliments. 8 Nov 1937. Not sure when the print run started or how long it went for, but this seems a fairly early date for a large print run and perhaps points to a first state with just the date? Can you state which state was first?

Angus and Robertson Limited (A & R) were the publishers of the books of Ion L Idriess (Cornstalk, which published Idriess's first book, Madman's Island in 1927, was an offshoot of A & R). They had their ways of delineating the editions they published, which were often idiosyncratic and inconsistent. They were, after all, about making money, and not catering for (later) book-collectors and bibliophiles. So terms like editions, impressions and printings or reprints were often used interchangeably or inconsistently. Before looking at some specifics, here are some definitions (and some helpful websites that give further information). Edition : One of a number of printings of the same book, newspaper, etc., issued at different times, and differing from another by alterations, additions, etc. (as distinguished from impression). The Concise Macquarie Dictionary. Impression is when they print off another load of books using the same set-up. Publishers will make it a new edition when they re-set the type, make corrections, or just sometimes when they feel like. Andyl in LibraryThing Forum Reprint : A new impression, without alteration, of any printed work. The Concise Macquarie Dictionary. First edition : Collectors use the term “first edition” as a short form of “first printing of the first edition”. http://www.ioba.org/pages/resources/first-edition-primer/ B ook collectors generally use the term first edition to mean specifically the first print run of the first edition (aka "first edition, first impression"). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edition_(book) See also: https://rhollick.wordpress.com/2020/05/14/first-printing/ https://rhollick.wordpress.com/2017/05/03/edition-vs-impression/#:~:text=In%20ABC%20for%20Book%20Collectors,type)%3B%20while%20an%20impression https://www.abebooks.com/books/rarebooks/collecting-guide/what_books_collect/collecting-first-editions.shtml State: The changes during the production of the first printing are called "states". https://www.biblio.com/book-collecting/basics/how-to-identify-first-editions/ These are mid-print run minor changes, such as binding or colour (see www.idriess.com.au Collections of Idriess works - The national Editions (1939 and 1941) for a discussion of different bindings and colours - states - of these editions). Usually Ion Idriess books have a date (the year) on the title page and also on the verso (the back of the title page), and often the edition was noted (usually on the title page at least). On the verso of many of his books often further information was given, such as the first publication year, and subsequent editions, impressions, reprints, revisions and special editions (such as the National Edition). Sometimes the verso included not only the years, but the months or even the exact dates of editions, especially when these "editions" (print runs?) were close . For example, the third edition of Gold-Dust and Ashes has on the verso: First Edition . . . March 1933 Second Edition . . . April 1933 Third Edition . . . May 1933; and the second edition of Drums of Mer has: First Edition . . . 30 September 1933 Second Edition . . . 4 October 1933. So far so good. Except that: are these editions of Gold-Dust and Ashes and Drums of Mer really editions (with changes) or really reprints or impressions? Why does a first (1938) edition of Madman's Island just have the year (on title page and verso), while a 1949 "edition" has on the verso First published 1927 (even though this was very different with major changes) and then has reprinted 1938 (and reprinted for subsequent years)? Why does a second edition of Flynn of the Inland 1932 have on the verso, First Edition 10 March, 1932 Second Edition 16 March, 1932, when no alterations were made between these "editions"? And then the twenty-second edition came out in 1942; but the 1956 Memorial Edition notes that the only new edition was 1951, reprinted in 1955, and prior to that it was first published 1932 and then lists 13 reprints, 1932 to 1949, but only 7 reprints 1932 to 1942? Are these editions or reprints? And if there was a 22nd edition in 1942, what happened to the other editions, or reprints, as reported in the 1956 Memorial edition, as there is a discrepancy of 14 "editions"? There were four 1932 editions of the The Desert Column , but were they really editions or impressions? The third "edition" has First Edition, then, Second Impression, Third Impression, but the fifth "edition" identifies them all as editions! Why? Perhaps the answer is in the definition of Impression by Andyl, above: Just sometimes when they [A & R!] feel like! Having a year of publication is helpful. But having a year of publication with no advice that this may be a second edition is confusing! So The Great Boomerang was first published in 1941; but the second edition has only the date (1942) on title page and verso - so you would be forgiven for thinking it a first edition (as that is the style for many Idriess first editions). Similarly, The Great Trek was published in 1940, but the second edition again has no notation to that effect and simply the 1941 date - it looks like a first edition but isn't. Later books by Idriess in the 50's and 60's at least specified, for example, First published in 1953. So collecting Idriess can be confusing, and there seems to be no rhyme or reason to some of the edition information that A & R have (or haven't!) included. Caveat Emptor! Thank goodness for sites like this that give so much helpful information in the Bibliography and elsewhere.