[HEALESVILLE SANCTUARY] Two albums of original photographs of native animals, including “Splash” the platypus, plus local views and portraits, 1930s-40s.

Album 1. Oblong quarto (205 x 285 mm), embossed red leather over boards; front endpaper with ownership inscription of Morwell Hodges; approx. [50] mounted b/w gelatin silver print photographs, most 150 x 200 mm format, and several newspaper cuttings relating to the Healesville wildlife sanctuary and Coranderrk Aboriginal reserve; subjects include “Splash”, the famous Healesville platypus, koalas; in excellent condition throughout.

Album 2. Oblong quarto (190 x 270 mm), black cloth over boards; approx. [40] corner-mounted b/w gelatin silver print photographs, most 150 x 200 mm format; subjects include “Splash” and his handler Robert Eadie, as well as other animals at the sanctuary (owls, kookaburras, kangaroos, emus, possums), sanctuary visitors interacting with the animals, views of “Wildwood” guesthouse, and unidentified portraits (probably Hodges’ family); in excellent condition throughout.

Photographer and newspaper proprietor Morwell Hodges was born in Morwell, Gippsland in 1896. Among numerous other publications and periodicals (see below), his photographs were published in Robert Eadie’s The life and habits of the Australian platypus (Melbourne, 1935).

‘Morwell Hodges lived in Tasmania and Melbourne as a child. He was educated at the state school in Frankston and later at the Sacred Heart school in Kew, Victoria, where his father took over the Kew Mercury newspaper. After leaving school, Hodges worked for a time in the office of the newspaper and as a clerk in stores in Melbourne. In 1915 he joined the Royal Australian Navy as a wireless operator. Later, he was the proprietor of the Healesville Guardian. Hodges provided photographic illustrations for several works, including Echoes of the Bush by Alice Johnson. In Veil of Time, Hodges is listed as the author of Beyond the Reef and Country Editor, neither of which publications have been traced. Archival material on Hodges is held at the Kew Historical Society (Kew, Victoria).’ (AustLit)