Album of the kings &​ queens of Victoria

[Melbourne : compiled and published by H. Perkins & Co., The Gift Depot, c.1880]. Duodecimo, original cloth-backed faux tortoise-shell pattern papered boards with gilt stamped lettering and ornament, edges lightly rubbed, containing folding concertina of [12] panels with leporello reproductions of Kruger’s photographic portraits of surviving leaders of Aboriginal tribes of Victoria, originally taken at various times between around 1866 and 1878; the rear paste-down with the original printed yellow sheet laid in, a short essay titled The Kings and​ Queens of Victoria : The Australian Aboriginal;  a fine example of this rare and visually striking publication, with a particularly attractive variant binding.

The subjects are captioned ‘King David, Warrnambool Tribe’; ‘Gellibrand, Colac Tribe’; ‘Queen Mary, Ballarat Tribe’; ‘King William, Mount Cole Tribe’; ‘Queen Eliza, Yarra Tribe’, ‘King Tom, Derrinallum Tribe’; ‘Mia Mia and Royal Family’; ‘King Billy and his two wives’; ‘Queen Rose, Ballarat Tribe’, ‘Tom William, Echuca Tribe’; ‘Barker and son Heron, Bacchus Marsh Tribe’, ‘Dick, Goulburn Tribe’.

Ferguson, 5809 (locating a single copy in the Mitchell Library, incomplete, described by Ferguson as with only 8 portraits, it has, in fact 10 portraits of the 12); a complete example is held in the Dixson Library at the State Library of New South Wales).