Search results for 'Books'

One Hundred Years – Some Treasured Objects of History West, the Royal Western Australian Historical Society, part 1

By Dorothy Erickson | February 2026 | Vol 48 no 1

The Royal Western Australian Historical Society celebrates its centenary in 2026, with a new name History West, and a new home for members’ activities having display and storage areas for the books, archives, photographic collection and the considerable art and objects held in the art, costume and museum coll...

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How did a cockatoo reach 13th-century Sicily?

By Heather Dalton | May 2025 | Vol 47 no 2

Frederick II of Sicily made contact with the Kurdish al-Malik Muhammad al-Kamil in 1217, a year before he became Sultan
of Egypt. Over the next 20 years, the two rulers communicated regularly, exchanging letters, books and rare and exotic
animals. One exotic gift the Sultan sent Frederick was a Sulphur-creste...

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The Thallon Memorial Medal – a gold prize for the children of Queensland railway workers

By Kevin Lambkin | February 2025 | Vol 47 no 1

Over a period of nearly 60 years from 1913 to 1970, about 200 outstanding Queensland school students, sons and daughters of employees of the Queensland Railways, were awarded gold medals valued at £3/10/, or the equivalent in scholastic books, in memory of Railway Commissioner J F Thallon (1847–191...

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Decoding the Ex Libris designs of Eric Thake

By James Stanton | August 2024 | Vol 46 no 3

When a library was a necessity for a well-educated person, ownership of a book was indicated by the presence of a bookplate pasted into their books. While generic bookplates exist, book collectors often approached an artist to design an ex libris specifically for them,...

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Kitchen inspirations: the recipe books of a Queensland flour manufacturer

By Megan Martin | February 2023 | Vol 45 no 1

As far as eating paraphernalia goes, Australiana has previously covered dining tables and chairs, sideboards, ceramic plates, silver table ornaments, Splayds and even tea towels. Megan Martin demonstrates that it is about time we looked at recipe books, particularly as these Queensland examples ...

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W.J. Williams and his paintings

By Graham J. Williams | August 2020 | Vol 42 no 3

In 2018, Dr Andrew Montana restored William Joseph Williams (1851–1918) as the artist responsible for the late 19th-century painted decoration in South Australia at Ayers House, the Museum of Economic Botany, Rigby’s bookshop, Trew’s South Australian Club Hotel and probably Para Para.1 Now the artist’s ...

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Kevin Fahy Annual Lecture 2018: Tasmaniana

By Colin Thomas | May 2018 | Vol 40 no 2

Firstly thank you to Jim and the Society Committee for demonstrating the faith you have in me to deliver what I regard as this most important lecture. We all owe the late Kevin Fahy a significant debt for the time that he took researching, collecting and preserving Australia’s heritage, particularly in the bo...

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Book review: Robert La Nauze, ‘Made to Order. George Thwaites and Sons, colonial cabinet makers'

By Paul Gregson | November 2017 | Vol 39 no 4

The first study into our furniture history appears to be by John Earnshaw, a retired engineer. The name ‘W. Beatton’ stamped on an old cedar chiffonier aroused his curiosity. Earnshaw investigated further and produced a slim book, Early Sydney Cabinetmakers, in 1971 which resulted in devotees, students, his...

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Lawrence Butler and his veneered case furniture made in Sydney between 1804 and 1815

By John Hawkins | November 2016 | Vol 38 no 4

By examining the innovations in the various editions of the London and Edinburgh cabinet-makers’ books of prices, as well as identifying the decorative details favoured by Irish cabinet-makers, John Hawkins suggests that it is possible to develop a chronology for the important group of early Sydney furniture ...

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Kangaroo mechanical toys

By John Wade | November 2016 | Vol 38 no 4

Many fields of collecting remain undocumented in Australiana, despite nearly 40 years of publication. Australian toys are just one area that has been neglected and under-researched. Children grow up and usually grow out of their children’s toys. Their toys – especially soft toys and books – often get dog-...

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