{"product_id":"capricornia-first-edition-signed","title":"Capricornia (First edition, Signed)","description":"\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: rgb(44, 92, 79);\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cem\u003eA landmark and still-controversial work of Australian social protest fiction, inscribed by the author himself in the year of its first printing.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eXavier Herbert (1901–1984) drew directly on his own experience as an official \"Protector of Aborigines\" in Darwin in writing \u003cem\u003eCapricornia\u003c\/em\u003e, composed in London between 1930 and 1932 but not published until 1938. Set in a fictionalised Northern Territory across three generations of the Shillingsworth family, the novel confronts the realities of race relations, dispossession, and the treatment of Aboriginal and Chinese Australians in the north with a directness that was, for its time, without precedent in Australian fiction.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eIt won the Australian Literature Society's Gold Medal for the best Australian novel of 1939, and was hailed on publication as a turning point in Australian letters and an outstanding work of social protest. This reputation has been broadly retained, even as contemporary readers and booksellers now rightly note that its depictions of Indigenous and Chinese Australians reflect outdated racial attitudes common of the era. Herbert would not publish another major novel for almost four decades, until \u003cem\u003ePoor Fellow My Country\u003c\/em\u003e (1975), which won him the Miles Franklin Award.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis copy carries a presentation inscription in Herbert's own hand, dated December 1938 — inscribed within the same calendar year as the book's original January publication, making this among the earliest documented instances of the author's own engagement with a reader or associate following \u003cem\u003eCapricornia\u003c\/em\u003e's appearance.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFirst edition, limited to 2,000 unnumbered copies (and 50 numbered copies on rag paper). Inscribed by the author to the title page: \"With the compliments of Xavier Herbert, December 1938\". \u003c\/strong\u003eOctavo. 595pp. Original orange publisher's cloth. Titling to spine in black. Map to front endpaper. Spine sun faded. Some rubbing and wear to spine ends and corners. Contents age toned (due to paper quality), heavier along edges. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis book is currently not on display in store.\u003cbr\u003eIf you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: \u003ca href=\"mailto:rarebooks@harryhartog.com.au\" title=\"Harry Hartog Rare Book Department\"\u003erarebooks@harryhartog.com.au\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCatalogue Number: HH000025\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Xavier Herbert","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51580563718387,"sku":"1110002831829","price":250.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0634\/4284\/5939\/files\/1_e9f4d95e-2898-48c6-ae71-a31cc9122d11.png?v=1790122415","url":"https:\/\/www.harryhartog.com.au\/products\/capricornia-first-edition-signed","provider":"Harry Hartog Bookseller","version":"1.0","type":"link"}