Complete Works: A Camp-Fire Yarn, 1885–1900 & A Fantasy of Man, 1901–1922 (Deluxe Collector's First Edition)

LAWSON, Henry (comp. & ed. Leonard Cronin; intro. Brian Kiernan; illus. Peter Lawson et al.). Complete Works: A Camp-Fire Yarn, 1885–1900 & A Fantasy of Man, 1901–1922. Sydney: Lansdowne Press, 1984. 2 vols.

Folio. Both volumes bound in full tan calf, illustrated and decorated. Housed together in matching velvet-lined solander case. A Camp-Fire Yarn: 906 pp; A Fantasy of Man: 1012 pp. Full-page sepia plates, numerous text illustrations, and a double-page colour plate throughout. Deluxe Collector's Edition. Limited to 600 numbered sets, this being number 282. Signed by Peter Lawson, Henry Lawson's great-nephew. Includes an additional loose colour plate, signed and numbered, of an original painting by Peter Lawson evoking Lawson's poem "The Mountain Splitter," suitable for framing.

Henry Lawson (1867–1922) is, alongside Banjo Paterson, one of the two towering figures of the Australian literary bush tradition. Lawson's short stories and verse confronted the harsher realities of the bush with an unflinching, often bleak realism that many critics regard as the truer and more enduring literary achievement. Lawson grew up in poverty, struggled throughout his life with deafness, alcoholism, and periods of institutionalisation and imprisonment, and died in 1922 in circumstances of considerable personal difficulty. Yet, by the time of his death he had already become a genuinely revered national figure, and was honoured with a state funeral, the first Australian writer to receive one.

This Lansdowne edition, compiled and edited by Leonard Cronin with an introduction by Brian Kiernan, gathers the whole of Lawson's prose and verse output across both periods of his career into a single comprehensive and lavishly produced edition, a commemorative undertaking made all the more personal by the direct involvement of Peter Lawson, Henry's own great-nephew, whose signature and original painting are included solely in this deluxe edition.

Fine throughout. A well-preserved and beautiful set.

Please note: This is a large, heavy two-volume set. Additional postage costs may apply. If so, we will contact you after purchase.

This book is currently not on display in store.
If you would like more information or to arrange a viewing, please contact: rarebooks@harryhartog.com.au

Catalogue Number: HH000692