PLEASE NOTE: Any book title starting with "The" - the second word of the title is used to list by.

All prices quoted are in Australian currency and include GST.
* Short trade discount.

king_george_sound_cvrAborigines of the King George Sound Region
1836 - 1838

The collected works of James Browne (1821-1887)

Compiled and annotated by Ken Macintyre and Barbara Dobson

ISBN 978-0-85905-498-0, 2011 New, A4, 37pp, 140 grams

$22.00*


The collected known works of James Browne have been annotated with explanatory notes by Ken Macintyre and Dr Barbara Dobson in order to provide a biographical and ethnohistorical context. Where Browne has omitted to use the traditional Noongar terms for artefacts and known ceremonial rituals, these have been provided in the annotations.

Browne's collected works provide a valuable contribution to the historical ethnography of indigenous southwestern Australia. His perceptions are insightful, often analytical and in the case of Aboriginal title to the land, he leaves no doubt in the reader's mind that the original inhabitants were 'owners'.


above_the_26thAbove the 26th

by Les Newman

ISBN 978-0-85905-834-6, (new, 2020), A4, 36 pages, 140 grams, $30.00*  


Les went North in 1960. Darwin, Carnarvon, Gascoyne Junction, Denham, Exmouth, Onslow, Kununurra, Wyndham, Karratha, with characters in between and around. The idiosyncrasies of the inhabitants of the outer lands are described in detail. One wonders just how the system survived.

across_the_great_thirst_lanAcross the Great Thirst Land.

R.T. Maurice.

ISBN 978-0-85905-934-3, (R190*, 2022), A4, 28 pages, illustrated, 105 grams, $22.00*


Maurice’s expedition from Fowlers Bay to Wyndham in 1902. A great story which is not well known.

adventures_trepang_fisherAdventures of a Trepang Fisher

by George H. Sunter

ISBN 0 85905 234 6, (1997 reprint of 1937 edition with new material), Soft Cover, 140mm x 215mm, 292pp, illustrated, 380grams

$30.00 + POST


A Northern Territory classic.

George Sunter, pastoralist, buffalo shooter, soldier and author relates his life and adventures of a trepang fisher off Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.

He was engaged in trepang fishing from 1928 to 1932 when the market collapsed. Trepang, also known as beche-de-mer, are semi cylindrical tapering animals found in abundance on the sandy shores of Arnhem Land. Trepang was sold to the Chinese who used it primarily in soup and regarded the food as a delicacy and as a aphrodisiac.

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The_Adventures_Louis_cvrThe Adventures of Louis De Rougemont

by himself

ISBN 978-0-85905-648-9, (1898 R 2016), A4, heavily illustrated, Facsimile, 180 pages, 502 grams

$40.00* + POST


Unleashed onto the unsuspecting world in London, 1898, the tale is of an adventurer wrecked in the Australian north and surviving the wilds with its cannibals and creatures. It confused the establishment for many decades with its faction. For the last century those fortunate enough to have read the book have laughed at how the dons of science fought with the equally preposterous tales of cynical Australian bushmen. He removed Ananias from his position of leading liar forever. His stories however still live on among the knowing and continue to strike strange chords among those attuned to old ways.

afghan_cover"The Afghan Problem"
and
their camels

by I Murray, P Bianchi, M Bloomfield & P J Bridge

ISBN 978 0 85905 462 1, (2008), A4, 160 pp, illustrated, soft cover, 450 grams

$30.00* + POST


Afghans are now looked upon somewhat romantically but in the 1890s rush they were a constant problem for almost everyone. This collection of articles shows the antagonism of the bush against their dirty habits and truculent demeanor. Their camels were little different

after_uneasy_atomsAfter Uneasy Atoms – Uranium camps on the Northern Australian Rivers, 1950-1960

by Hervey J. Newton

ISBN 978-0-85905-571-0, (2014, new), A4, 86 pp, illustrated, 250 g

$22.00* + POST


Rum Jungle, El Sherana, Ranger, Nabarlek and Sleisbeck were names that resounded in the mining world when atomic power was viewed as the future. This book is the story of NAUC's Sleisbeck deposit and the men who developed it in the then wild tropics.

agnewAgnew

by Alex Palmer

ISBN 085905 267 2, (2000 new), Soft Cover, laminated, 142 pages, illustrated, 195grams

$22.00 + POST


The history of the goldfield's town, its rise and fall and the life of its people.

airflashAIRFLASH

by Bob Sheppard

ISBN 978-0-85905-890-2, (2021, New) A5, illustrated and including maps, 47 pages, $15.00 + $3.00 Postage Australia wide.


In early 1942 Japanese forces were advancing through Southeast Asia and there was a real concern Australia would be invaded. In a small tin shed at Island Point on the southern end of Jurien Bay in Australia's remote Mid-West, a guard and two Royal Australian Air Force wireless operators watched for enemy activity and monitored their radio. Through the static they heard a call. The three men were terrified by the radio conversation that resulted. An English speaking Japanese wireless operator aboard a submarine somewhere near Jurien Bay spoke directly to the men telling them he knew who they were, how many were at the camp and their location.

This is one of the stories collected by Bob Sheppard and is included in AIRFLASH: A Guide to Coast Watch Posts in the Mid-West of Western Australia 1942-1944, Royal Australian Air Force. Bob provides details, including the locations, of the RAAF Coast Watch Posts established between Port Gregory and Burns Beach in No. 3 of his MID-WEST AT WAR series of publications.

The book is available from the author. 

Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call or SMS 0407770139.

Albany-Resident-MagistrateAlbany Resident Magistrates. 1850-1855.

by Dianne and Ashton Cavanagh.

ISBN 978-0-85905-892-6. (New, 2021), A4, 71 pages, indexed, 270 grams, $45.00*


The letterbook of John Randall Phillips and associates was lost to WA when taken back to Ireland. Now the full text is transcribed, edited, and indexed.

This is a valuable source of information on the early colonists and the local aborigines.

aan_coverAll Australians Now

by Willem van Ravenstein

ISBN 978-0-85905-295-5, (2010 new), illustrated, 221pp, 510grams

$35.00 + POST


For the ten-year old Dutch boy who arrived with his migrant parents at Fremantle one intolerably hot day in 1950, Australia was an alien, almost incomprehensible land.

A clear-eyed observer with an outsider’s perspective, the child grew up and was educated in postwar Perth, where he was gradually transformed into an Australian.

The experience was a complex, testing and sometimes confusing process.

Read more...

all_gold_grace_coverAll Gold

The Death of Stephen Grace

by Peter J. Bridge,Gail Dreezens and Moya Sharp

ISBN 0 85905 398 9, (2007 new), Soft Cover, A4, 30pp, saddle, illustrated, 135 grams

$16.00* + POST


Grace was the head of APLA, the prospectors association, and was murdered by blacks in 1907, while on a prospecting expedition along the RPF.

all_in_my_strideAll in My Stride

by Richard Harris

ISBN 0 85905 260 5, (1999 new), Soft Cover, 140mm x 215mm, 216 pp, illustrated, 230grams

$22.00 + POST


All In My Stridestells of John Gilmour's early days living in a group settlement in the South West of Western Australia, the struggle for survival during the Great Depression, enlistment in the Army as a fit young man, and his coming to terms with major damage to his eyesight through malnutrition in Changi goal. Worse was to come - nightmare years as a slave labourer in Japan. He was a 2/4th machine gunner.

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all_men_backAll Men Back - All One Big Mistake

by W.A. (Bill) Bee

ISBN 0 85905 254 0, (1998 new), Soft Cover, 156pp, illustrated, 230grams

$22.00 + POST


An amazing story told by an Australian sailor of his experiences immediately before and after capture by the Imperial Japanese Navy.

As a signalman on the flag deck of HMAS Perth, Bill (Buzzer to his mates) Bee gives an eye witness account of events leading up to debacle of the Java Sea Battle on 27 February 1942, and final annihilation of Allied Naval Forces defending Java on the 1 March 1942, in Sunda Straits.

Then as a Prisoner of War for 3½ years the author takes the reader on a journey that describes vividly the anxieties and perils he and his mates experienced while travelling over vast distances of land and sea to satisfy their captors' forced labour requirements. This includes building the Burma-Thai Railway to coal-mining in Japan.

The narrative begins in Fremantle when HMAS Perth arrives in February 1942 and finishes when the author returns home in Perth, Western Australia in 1945.

The Alligators of Cambridge Gulf 

by W.C. Charnley.

ISBN 978-0-85905-694-6, (R, 2017), A5, $10.00*

alluvialistsThe Alluvialists. The Kalgoorlie Riot of 1898.

Rod Moncrieff.

ISBN 978-1-875778-13-3, 124 pages, A4, illustrated, 370 grams, $40.00*


The fight of the alluvial prospectors and miners against the Forrest government’s mining laws. Laws against alluvial mining on reef and lode leases.

‘Ten Foot Ned’ Wittenoom and the government’s intransigence against the alluvialists created riots that led to the gaoling of prospectors.

Their slogan of “Fair Play, Fair Laws and Justice to All” rings true forever.

This is now a little known but important part of WA mining history. 

The rights of alluvialists were cut away again in the 1970s. Further attacks will take place as they have in other states. In the coming Greater Depression these rights will become essential for the survival of many.

along_the_ashburton_coverAlong the Ashburton

by Rhonda McDonald

ISBN 0 85905 288 5, (2002 new), Soft Cover, section sewn, 278 pages, illustrated, 385grams

$35.00 + POST


The history of Onslow and the stations of the Ashburton.

Rhonda McDonald (nee Stidworthy) spent much of her childhood and married life in country similar to that of which she has written. She commenced her schooling at Onslow in 1936 and finished it at the Presentation Convent Carnarvon, along with some of the people mentioned in this book.

After leaving school Rhonda worked on the Carnarvon telephone exchange before becoming Gascoyne Traders' first secretary. Eventually she married Allan McDonald of Mangaroon Station, where they lived until their retirement to Perth.

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along_the_coast_cvrAlong the Coast

BY Ship Northwards

edited by Peter J Bridge, with a foreword by maritime historian and artist Ross Shardlow

ISBN 978-0-85905-604-5, (R, N2015), A4, illustrated, 212 pages, 580 grams

$50.00* + POST


The forgotten role of coastal shipping in both supplying the North and keeping Westralia in contact with the outside world. A collection of 25 descriptions of voyages along the coast from Eucla to Wyndham, interstate and to south and east Asia, in the period 18 80s to the 1960s.

along_the_road_to_cue_coverAlong the Road to Cue and other verses

by Andree Hayward

ISBN 978-0-85905-136-1, (2010 new), 106pp, illustrated, 156grams

$22.00 + POST


Andree Hayward was a lawyer, poet and newspaper editor and one of the greatest influences on the developing high culture of the Westralian goldfields. This collection of his verse, a biography and literary criticism fulfils promises made by Hesperian to Hayward's grand-daughter over 25 years ago, and to Beverley Smith, the first of 'modern times' to recognize the value of a virile goldfields literature.

Chris Holyday has researched and edited this expanded collection, marking the 60th anniversary of Andree Hayward' death.

Alphabetical Index to the 1954 “List of Cancelled Gold Mining Leases Which Have Produced Gold”

by P. J. Bridge

ISBN 0 85905 005 X, (1972 New), Soft Cover, 68pp, A3, 400grams, $50.00*


This is an essential companion to the List of Cancelled GMLs produced by the Mines Dept which is in district order. With the alpha index and the name of a GML its locality can be found.

alway_your_own_cvrAlways Your Own, Allan

Edited and written by Julie Easton.

ISBN 978-0-85905-559-8, (2013, New), A4, 60pp, illustrated, 210 grams.

$22.00* + POST


A love story; a social history of farming and community life; a snapshot of the concerns and issues facing young people in the late 1930s in the south-west of Western Australia in the late 1930s.

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among_the_mangroveAmong the Mangrove Swamps. Broome, Derby and elsewhere, beyond the Pale.  

Thomas Henry “Crosscut” Wilson. Collated and edited by Peter J. Bridge and Chris Holyday.

ISBN 978-0-85905-953-4, (New, 2022), A4, 48 pages,    grams, $30.00*


Crosscut’s description of the Deep North, its customs, and the plight of the discarded White worker in the face of cheap imported labour. 

among_untamedAmong Untamed Savages

ISBN 978-1-875778-32-4, (New, 2024) A5, 8 pages. $10.00*


On meeting the missionaries near Camden Harbour.

Among_the-Wild_animals_peop

THE WESTERN AUSTRALIAN EXPLORERS’ DIARIES PROJECT INC.


Among Wild Animals and People in Australia

by Eric Mjoberg, translated by Margareta Luotsinen and Kim Akerman.

ISBN 978-0-85905-507-9, (New 2012), Casebound, dj, illustrated, 362pp, 1.1 kg,

$95.00* + POST


From October 1910 to August 1911 biologist Erik Mjoberg and his seven man Swedish team travelled by bullock wagon through the West Kimberley collecting invertebrates, birds, mammals, and ethnographic research material.

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amonst_stone_age_cvrAmongst Stone Age People in the Queensland Wilderness

by Eric Mjoberg
Translated by FM Fryer, Edited by Asa Ferrier and Rod Ritchie.

ISBN 978-0-85905-593-2, (New 2014), 421pp , 160 x 250, heavily [258] illustrated + 4 colour plates, casebound, dj, 1.3kg,

$110 .00* + POST


Published in Swedish in 1918 and now available for the first time in English. A magnificent book on Eric Mjoberg's North Queensland anthropological and natural history collecting expedition. Rarely seen photos of NQ Aboriginals, ethnographic items, tropical rainforests and their endemic animals.

A small run with only a few casebound so Queenslanders please do not delay.

An Aboriginal Monster 

by Daisy Bates.

ISBN 978-0-85905-740-0, (RN, 2018), A5, 10 pp, $10.00*

A description of the habits and character of an Aboriginal monster who terrorised his tribe and cannibalised all he could.

in_nw_aust_desertAn American oil man in the West Kimberley – 1924. In the Northwest of the Australian Desert.

by Frederick Clapp.

ISBN 978-1-875778-37-9, (R 1924, 2024) A4, 31 pages, illustrated, with map, **grams, $22.00*


Very interesting description of work in the Canning Basin in 1924. 

farber_coverAn Australian Centaur

Harry Farber, 1880-1965 Horseman

by Edna Baulch

ISBN 978-0-85905-531-4, (2012), 32pp, A4, illustrated, 120 grams

$16.00* + POST


The biography of one of Australia’s greatest horsemen. Edna’s biog plus other notes, verse, and many photos.

an_island_unto_itselfAn Island Unto Itself

by Leslie R. Marchant

ISBN 0 85905 120 X, (1988 new), Soft Cover, 152mm x 223mm, 224pp, illustrated, 460grams

$30.00 + POST


Based on research findings and the results of maritime expeditions conducted by the author, this book provides a comprehensive account of Dampier's scientific explorations in New Holland during the English Restoration and Revolutionary periods, when English sciences advanced with the then newly-established Royal Society.

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and_if_her_droughts_are_bitAnd if her droughts are bitter

by Gladys Linke

ISBN 0-85905-228-1, (1996 & 2003), illust, 133pp, 180grams

$22.00 + POST


The Linke family and their life on the far outback Prenti Downs and Carnegie Stations. The book also details aspects of the canning Stock Route. Tommy Injebong. Len Beadell.

An important book on the problems of bush station life.

Linke family direct sales: Northam 089 621 2555, Prenti Downs 089 981 2988, Paroo Station 089 981 2882.

and_some_found_gravesAnd Some Found Graves

The Goldfields Diary of John Aspinall

compiled by A.J. Thompson

ISBN 0 85905 186 2, (2002 reprint of 1993 edition), Soft Cover, 95pp, illustrated, 150grams

$16.50 + POST


I found Johnny Aspinall's grave by chance in February 1980 while prospecting at Hawks Nest, about 15km west of Laverton in the Mt Margaret Goldfields of Western Australia.

Johnny began his diary in 1895 as he left his native New Zealand and his last entry was made in 1896 one prior to his death when he was struck by lightning. Ironically, his last entry mentioned that there were thunderstorms around."           A.J. Thompson