Jarrahland Jingles. A Volume of Westralian Verse.
Perth: "Sunday Times" Publishing Co., 1908. First edition. "One of the first books of substantial verse published in Western Australia" (Australian Dictionary of Biography). Dryblowing is a method of gold prospecting.
'Dryblower' (or 'Dryblower Murphy') was Australian journalist and poet Edwin Greenslade Murphy (1866-1939). Murphy followed the Western Australian gold rush, arriving in Coolgardie in 1894; later that year he 'helped Billy Clare to launch his "Coolgardie Miner", contributing a weekly gossip column, including jingles, using the pen-name "Dryblower". This originated when a friend sent one of his rhymes to the Sydney "Bulletin", saying that it had been written by a local dryblower; Murphy used the name for the rest of his life. "Jarrahland Jingles" was one of the first books of substantial verse published in Western Australia and contained a preface by C.W.A. Hayward that applauded Murphy's "playful banter" and "stinging satire", but Hayward noted that much of it was "quick pressure work" and gave only two poems real praise. Murphy's verses became better known than those of any other Western Australian writer' (ADB).
8vo, 191pp. Pictorial hessian covers with fringed edges, printed in red and black, with an image of a dryblower on the front cover. Hessian slightly tanned, text block a little uneven, very good overall. Item #26606
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