The Austral Edition of the selected works of Marcus Clarke. (With related ephemera)

Together with a biography and monograph of the deceased author, compiled and edited by Hamilton Mackinnon. Melbourne : Fergusson & Mitchell, Printers, 1890. First collected edition. Thick octavo, in a contemporary full maroon calf binding, boards with double gilt rule, upper board with elaborate monogram of Marcus Clarke stamped in gilt (some wear to edges of boards), spine with gilt lettering and ornament (sunned and a trifle scuffed), inner gilt dentelles, marbled endpapers, front pastedown with armorial bookplate of noted Melbourne bibliophile Bernard Gore Brett, first blank and dedication page with stamp of the original owner, Melbourne lawyer Thomas Prout Webb (1845-1916), all edges gilt, frontispiece portrait of Marcus Clarke (tissue guard intact), pp [8], xxiv, 504, viii (list of subscribers); full-page lithographed plates with portraits of Adam Lindsay Gordon and Henry Kendall bound within preliminaries; binding firm, clean throughout, a very good copy; loosely enclosed is a manuscript note from Samuel R. Simmons, author of Marcus Clarke and the writing of “Long Odds” (Melbourne : The Bread and Cheese Club, 1946), dated 1 January 1946 and addressed to fellow writer Charles Barrett, in which he dismisses the rumour that George Walslab (Clarke’s close friend and journalistic collaborator) had written any part of His natural life, referring Barrett to Walslab’s letter published in The Lone Hand magazine in August 1907; Simmons’ missive is written inside a printed Bread and Cheese Club courtesy note sent to members (and others) who had acknowledged receipt of Simmons’ book, which had been printed to celebrate the centenary of Clarke’s birth.