Sonnet in remembrance

Lower Ferntree Gully, Vic. :  John T. Kirtley, 1949 . Folio, unbound sheets as issued, pp. [4] plus four blanks, printed letterpress, two illustrations signed Charles Crampton. One of only eighty hand-printed copies, numbered and signed by the author (this copy is numbered but not signed).

John Kirtley (1897-1967) is an important figure in Australian printing having produced the first Australian hand-printed books. Introduced by Philip Lindsay to his brother Jack, Kirtley was a pivotal figure in the establishment of the Fanfrolico Press in England. After he returned to Australia he produced Heemskerck Shoals, then the finest work of hand-printing undertaken in Australia.

Rare, with no copies traced at auction or within the trade.

Six copies recorded in Australian collections.

References:

not in Arnold & Hay, Bibliography of Australian Literature.

not in Farmer, Private Presses in Australia

Unrecorded by Miller/Macartney.

Provenance :

John Kirtley

gifted to Keith Wingrove

private collection, Melbourne