"Fair Girls and Gray Horses With Other Verses is the celebrated collection of Australian bush poetry by Scottish-born poet Will H. Ogilvie, one of the notable writers associated with The Bulletin school alongside Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson. Ogilvie spent more than a decade in Australia working among sheep stations, cattle country and horses, experiences which supplied much of the material for his verse. First published in Sydney in 1898, the collection became remarkably popular and established his reputation as a poet of horses, drovers and life in the Australian bush.
The poems combine romance, humour and nostalgia with wonderfully evocative pictures of station life and horsemanship. Horses occupy a particularly important place in Ogilvie's writing, alongside stockmen, cattle, long rides, camp life and the vast landscapes of inland Australia. Pieces such as "A Tell-Tale Tryst" mingle horses and romance, while "A Draft from Tringadee" vividly recalls stockyards, bullocks, stockwhips and the work of bringing cattle home. Contemporary commentary praised the collection for drawing its inspiration directly from the camp, cattle trail and bush, and for rhythms suggestive of galloping horses.
Published by Angus & Robertson in 1914, this attractive Twentieth Thousand issue demonstrates the considerable popularity the collection had achieved since its original appearance. Importantly, bibliographical advertisements describe the Twentieth Thousand as a revised edition, rather than a first edition—the true first edition was published by The Bulletin Newspaper Company in Sydney in 1898. This copy remains in its handsome original red embossed cloth bindings, with gilt titles and elaborate gilt decoration to the spine, and also carries an attractive contemporary Christmas inscription. A particularly appealing early edition of a classic of Australian bush verse, combining strong Australiana, equestrian, pastoral and literary interest."
Light wear to the covers and spine. Inscription as shown. Some light foxing present otherwise pages clean and well presented. A nice 1st edition copy in very good condition overall. Please study photos to further understand condition.
