Published by Cassell & Company Limited: London, Melbourne etc 1887 - 1889
"Cassell's Picturesque Australasia stands among the most ambitious and visually impressive nineteenth-century works devoted to Australia, New Zealand and the wider Australasian colonies. Edited by E. E. Morris, Professor of English at the University of Melbourne, this monumental four-volume set was produced between 1887 and 1889 to showcase the landscapes, cities, industries, peoples and natural wonders of a rapidly developing region. Written by leading colonial authors and scholars of the day, it provides a rich contemporary portrait of Australasia during the height of the Victorian era.
The work journeys across the Australian colonies, Tasmania and New Zealand, describing everything from bustling cities and goldfields to remote mountain ranges, forests, rivers and coastal settlements. Detailed accounts of Melbourne, Sydney, Christchurch, Hobart and other centres are accompanied by discussions of exploration, settlement, commerce, agriculture and colonial life. As a primary historical source, the set offers a fascinating insight into how nineteenth-century Australians and New Zealanders viewed their countries, their achievements and their place within the British Empire.
A major attraction of Picturesque Australasia is its extraordinary visual content. Profusely illustrated throughout with hundreds of original engravings, maps and scenic views, the work captures colonial streetscapes, dramatic landscapes, notable buildings, Indigenous subjects, rural industries and significant historical events. The illustrations are among the finest produced for any Australasian publication of the period and remain an invaluable record of places and scenes that have long since changed or disappeared.
This complete four-volume set is particularly desirable in its striking original decorated red cloth and gilt bindings, which have become iconic among collectors of Australian books. Combining historical importance, literary merit and exceptional artistic presentation, Cassell's Picturesque Australasia remains one of the cornerstone publications of nineteenth-century Australiana and New Zealand history, sought after by collectors, researchers and institutions alike for its breadth, beauty and enduring significance."
