1889 - 1979
Dedicated to the Life and Works of
Ion Llewellyn (Jack) Idriess
Madman's Island (1927)
This fictional version - written with a ‘love interest’ - was a failure, selling only 300 copies and was remaindered (Ion Idriess by Beverley Eley p104 and p124). There were no other printings of this version. (see 1938 for the non-fiction version)
Publishing - Cornstalk Company, Sydney published 1927. Probably less than 2000 were printed.
There was also a facsimile edition of 250 copies published in 2002 by Idriess Enterprises Pty Ltd printed in Australia by Hyde Park Press.
Book - Red cloth boards with black titles to front and spine. 228 pages with two black and white illustrations by Edgar A. Holloway (one on frontispiece and another facing p60).
Dust Wrapper - not priced. Design by Edgar A. Holloway. On reverse side (the inside) of the DW there are ads for the Famous Bellbird Series of Books - for boys and girls, and the Platypus Series of books.
TitleVerso - “Wholly set up and printed in Australia by Eagle Press Ltd, Allen St. Waterloo for the Cornstalk Publishing Company, 1927"
Guide to Current Values
1st Edition - Very Good (no DW) $500 - $750. Very Good in a VG DW $2,500 +
Prospecting For Gold (1931)
From the Dish to the Hydraulic Plant
1st Edition - [viii] plus 158 pages, with 15 illustrations and an introduction by F S Mance, NSW Under-Secretary for Mines.
Copies of the 1st edition were sold out in 10 minutes (Ion Idriess by Beverley Eley p130).
2nd Edition - Second (Revised and Enlarged) Edition, [x] plus 204 plus (xviii) pages, with illustrations and an introduction by F S Mance, NSW Under-Secretary for Mines, and a glossary of mining terms at the back. DW orange with black print.
Publishing - Angus & Robertson.
1st ed March 1931, 2000 copies;
2nd ed March 1931, 2000 copies;
3rd ed March 1932, 2000 copies.
Book - Blue cloth boards with gilt lettering to spine and front cover. The gilt lettering is frequently rubbed off.
Dust Wrapper - Priced at 5/- , woven creamy fawn with plum print.
TitleVerso - “Wholly set up and printed in Australia by Halstead Printing Co Ltd, Allen St. Waterloo."
Guide to Current Values
1st Edition - Very Good (no DW) $250 - $450. VG in a VG DW $700 +.
2nd Edition - Very Good (no DW) $150 - $250. VG in a VG DW $200 - $350.
3rd Edition - Very Good (no DW) $100 - $150. VG in a VG DW $150 -$250
Lasseter's Last Ride (1931)
An epic in Central Australian gold discovery; with extracts from Lasseter's Diary and Letters.
Author's Note: "This story has been written from the related experiences of members of the expedition, and from the letters of Lasseter. The story of Lasseter's last adventures has been pieced together from the fragments of letters buried by him beneath the ashes of his camp-fires and found by Bob Buck when he was searching for the lost prospector."
Publishing - Angus & Robertson.1st edition 1 Sep 1931, 2nd ed 30 Sep 1931, 3rd ed Nov 10 1931
Book - Orange cloth boards with black lettering on spine and front cover. 228 pages and 12 pages of black/white photographs
Dust Wrapper - Priced at 6/- on top of front flap.
TitleVerso - Blank except for “Set up, printed and bound” etc
Guide to Current Values
1st Edition - Very Good (no DW) $250 - $500. VG in a VG DW $1,000+
Flynn of the Inland (1932)
The story of John Flynn, the practical visionary who cast "a mantle of safety" over the vast inland of Australia.
Author's Note: "I have written Flynn of the Inland in order that the people of Australia may learn something of the work which has been and is being done for isolated and suffering humanity by the Australian Inland Mission, its Padres and Doctors, its Sisters and voluntary workers - and by one Padre in particular. This book is not a history; but it is a true story."
There were 2000 copies of the first edition and 2500 copies of the second edition. By June 1945, 56,924 copies had been sold (Ion Idriess by Beverley Eley p144).
Publishing - Angus & Robertson. 1st edition published 10 March 1932, 2nd ed 16 March 1932, 3rd ed 6 May 1932
Book - Burnt Orange cloth boards with black lettering to spine and front cover. 306 pages, 20 pages of black & white photographs, 18 pages of advertisements by publisher. Coloured map endpapers to front and rear.
Dust Wrapper - Priced at 6/- on top of front flap. Under the front title there is an 8-line dedication by Sir Sydney Kidman and a 9-line dedication by Dr. Ronald MacIntyre. Later DW's do not have the dedications.
TitleVerso - Blank except for “Set up, printed and bound” etc
Guide to Current Values
1st Edition - Very Good (no DW) $100 -$250. VG in a VG DW $400 - $800.