Media: hardcover, 1268 pages
Year: 1893 - original edition
A huge book of over 120 pages - advertised by other antiquarian dealers for $150-$200
Australasian Bibliography (in three parts): Catalogue of Books in the Free Public Library, Sydney, relating to, or published in, Australasia... Reference Library, 1869-1888.
- Part I: Authors, Editors, or Reference
- Part II: Colonies, &c.
- Part III: Classified Subject and Title
The Free Public Library, Sydney (formerly the Australian Library and Literary Institution) opened in 1869. Robert Cooper Walker (1833-1897) was appointed librarian and began the systematic organization and management of what eventually became the State Library of New South Wales. 'In twenty-four years he fostered the library to its first 100,000 volumes and to 200,000 visitors a year. He produced the printed catalogues and developed the Australasian collection, compiling periodic lists that led to the delayed publication in 1893 of a full catalogue to 1888
This remained the greatest work of its kind for many years, while the strength of the collection was one of the influences in the bequest to the library by David Scott Mitchell' [Australian Dictionary of Biography]