THIS BOOK IS GOLD - GET IT!

Compiled and designed by Tom Thompson and with an Introduction by the late, great Tim Bowden (alas, he passed away in September last year), this little book (85 pages) features many new photographs (most of them coloured or tinted) of Horrie, including of him back in Australia - with a classic one of Ion Idriess shaking Horrie's paw (p.54 - book probably worth it for this photo alone - love it!) and another page (p.79) of his paw prints. It also includes articles, letters, official correspondence about Horrie, illustrations and the public's reaction to Horrie's demise - as well as a previously unpublished Preface by Ion Idriess (p.78). But wait - there is also a surprise ending (p.82)!

For anyone who loved Horrie the Wog Dog and the exploits of Private Jim Moody and his Signals Platoon of the 6th Division, AIF -…

This is a new book compiled by Tom Thompson (the TT of ETT!) from Ion Idriess Walkabout Magazine articles (hence the title, I presume - but also pointing to the peripatetic life of Idriess himself) of the 1930's - as well as three Sydney Morning Herald articles and one previously unpublished story - of the same era.

This book is a valuable source of out of publication material (and even a previously unpublished story) from Ion Idriess. I have in my collection a couple of the original Walkabout Magazine articles reproduced here, but by no means all of them, and not the SMH articles. Mr Thompson is making available useful and important material for Idriess buffs - and others - and is to be commended for this. Note should be made that ETT Imprints has, according to the list in the back of Walkabout, some 35 Idriess books in print…

This Limited Edition (86 copies) hardcover book was published last year (2023) by ETT Imprint, Exile Bay, NSW. It is a small (116 pages), but beautiful book, abounding in photos (14 - plus the cover as per image on the left) and information. There are still some HC copies available online for $50, and it is also now out in PB for about $29.99. But as a collector, I would much rather have a HC Ltd Ed, signed and numbered by Tom Thompson - designer and I presume publisher (Note: I have no connection with ETT Imprints!), as this book is a collector's item in its own right.

The main focus of this book is letters from Idriess in the years 1933 to 1935, all introduced, collated and annotated by Dr David A. Paterson. The notes accompanying the letters are particularly informative and well-researched about such things as the people…

This auction featured a number of items by or about Ion Idriess. I thought Paul Feain of Sydney Rare Book Auctions had auctioned off all of Idriess' estate already, but he had a few more manuscripts up his sleeve - mainly typed copies of published works. The SRBA March auction did include a couple of unpublished works, which we hope would be published someday by whoever acquired them. The manuscripts of this auction (seven of them) sold for between $90 and $850, which were reasonable prices for the buyers. I bid on the one which eventually went for $90 - it was typed notes for the end of Gold-dust and Ashes, which apparently differed somewhat from the published version. Pity to miss it, but I had my eye on some other items.

The most notable lot for me was the one that featured a Gold-dust and Ashes reprint and a…