"Pioneers". A supplement to the Christmas issue of Town and Country Journal, Chromolithographic Illustration.
Sydney: George Murray, December 1896. Lovely full page chromolithographic illustration of Australian pioneers on horse back exploring a tangled wooded mountain landscape which resembles the southern Alps.
The illustration was printed to accompany verse written by A. B. Paterson, "The Banjo", and describes the challenges the pioneers were confronted with: "When hardy bushmen started out, and forced their way ahead, By tangled scrub and forests grim towards the unknown west, And spied the far-off promised land from off the ranges' crest..."
Oh! ye, that sleep in lonely graves by far-off ridge and plain, We drink to you in silence now as Christmas comes again, The men who fought the wilderness through rough unsettled years-- The founders of our nation's life, the brave old pioneers." It appears that this was the first publication of the poem.
Signed at the lower right, "F. Cecil Boult". Francis Cecil Boult was a British artist noted for his paintings of a wide range of sports and particularly of horses, who did a magnificent representation of horses in the Australian bush. He does not appear to have visited Australia, so must have been working from photographs.
Below the signature in the bottom margin is "Printed in New South Wales by George Murray & Co. Ltd. litho printers Clarence St., Sydney". 17 x 23 1/2". Old fold flattened; some chipping at edges, not affecting the text or image. Trove 71302175 records a digitized copy at the NLA. Very good condition. Item #24024
Price: $450.00