Media: DATA CD - 3 CDs (6 volumes - 3537 pages)
Author: W. Morrison
Year: (1888-1890) 2007
ISBN: 9781921461491
Publisher: Archive Digital Books Australasia

Original copies of the Aldine histories of New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia are extremely hard to come by. They really are an historian's goldmine of information, and present a comprehensive and beautifully illustrated record of the history of each colony together with its prominent inhabitants.

Written by W. Frederic Morrison over a three year period, these multi-volume books are an essential reference work if researching in Queensland, New South Wales or South Australia. Authoritative, not only in the narrative history, but with the many thousands of biographies included of early personalities and noted identities for each region. They also include beautiful photographs and sketches of scenes and buildings illustrating life and places as they were in the past.

New South Wales (1365 pages)
The first volume comprises the history of New South Wales, and includes topics such as the early explorers, geography, aborigines, flora and fauna, governors of New South Wales as well as the Constitution. Volume two has another four chapters which complete the history section. The fascinating part of this set of books (apart from the hundreds of superb illustrations throughout), is the large biographical section which consists of nearly half of the whole set. The biographies of noted identities cover not only those from Sydney city, but also from the suburbs and regional areas. Each are grouped by town and have at least a paragraph on each person, though some are quite extensive. Includes all known variant editions.

Queensland (1083 pages)
Written as a 'celebration of the centennial year of the settlement of Australia' it includes chapters on Australian and Queensland history from the exploration of Australia through to the different districts of the colony of Queensland in 1888. It contains information on the different governors, the national constitution, interior exploration, resources, religious work, education, recreation, and a large biographical section. It also includes over 500 illustrations of people and places along with several maps. The really fascinating part of this set of books (apart from the gorgeous illustrations throughout), is the large Appendix section which consists of over 320 pages of biographies and photographs of Queensland's noted people. The biographies have been grouped by towns. Includes two of the three known editions.

South Australia (1089 pages)
The first volume is divided into thirty-two chapters and covers topics including the early explorers, geography, aborigines, flora and fauna, education, religion, recreation, as well as primary and secondary resources, governors of South Australia and the Constitution. Volume two has one more chapter which concludes the history section. This is then followed by about 400 pages of biographies of early South Australians. These include biographies of many in Adelaide as well as 71 country regions around the state. There are 143 illustrations, many in colour of people and scenes around South Australia. The biographies often include information such as name, year born, place born, if and when they emigrated, and usually their working life, and other interesting tidbits.

Now on fully-searchable CD-ROM accessing the valuable information contained in the Aldine's Histories has never been so easy, and if you bough each titles indiviually it would cost you $128.50, so you save big $$s by buying the set. The history and illustrations are a wonderful record, and the biographies are an invaluable source of information.

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS:
Any computer using Adobe (Acrobat) Reader 4 or later
Adobe Reader 6 or later is recommended for CDs with searchable text