[GOLD RUSH] Ham’s five views of the gold fields of Mount Alexander and Ballarat, in the Colony of Victoria,

drawn on the spot by D. Tulloch, engraved and published by Thomas Ham. Melbourne : Thomas Ham, 1852. Oblong folio, original cloth-backed pictorial stiff paper wrappers, the upper wrapper with six vignettes of goldfields scenes by Tulloch (stained and creased with short tears, old paper reinforcement lower wrapper), title page and five tinted lithographed plates, each plate with printed caption beneath and with a leaf of letterpress text facing (short repaired tears to the lower margin and edges, general light creasing and handling wear); a rare colour plate book from the Australian gold rush, housed in a custom clamshell box of quarter-morocco over cloth, lettered in gilt.

‘The earliest colonial plate book inspired by the Victorian Gold Rushes’ (Wantrup, Australian rare books, p. 325), Ham’s publication contains five engravings of the highest quality by David Tulloch, Ham’s engraver. Most copies of the portfolio appear to have been issued with tinted plates, as is the case with the present example, but some are known with hand coloured plates. Although at the head of the title is printed ‘First series’, no subsequent series was published.

Ferguson 17391; Wantrup, 253.