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'Author, illustrator, printmaker and natural historian, John William Lewin created the first illustrated book ever published in Australia - Birds of New South Wales, in 1813. Featuring more than 150 exquisite artworks, Mr J W Lewin takes a fascinating look at Lewin's life and work, his place in colonial Australian society and the natural history craze that swept the world at that time.
When Lewin arrived in New South Wales in 1800, the fledgling colony was by no means a favoured destination for artistic, ambitious Englishmen. Yet to Lewin, Australia was simply "the finest country in the world", and it offered him the respectability and social standing he could never have found in England.
'Written by Richard Neville, Mitchell Librarian at the State Library of New South Wales, this book is a visually stunning testament to Lewin's artistic legacy.' (From the publisher's website.)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Literature of the Pacific, Mainly Australian
2013
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Etropic : Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics , vol. 12 no. 2 2013; (p. 210-219)This lecture is in some ways the ‘lost’ chapter of The Cambridge History of Australian Literature (2009), one eventually not written because the projected author could find not enough literary material even in that vast Pacific Ocean, or perhaps found – as mariners have – only far separated specks in that ocean. Yet Australian literature about the nation’s Pacific littoral and the islands within the ocean and the ocean itself is varied, considerable, and often eccentric. Our greatest drinking song is Barry Humphries’s ‘The Old Pacific Sea’. The Japs and the jungle are the hallmarks of fiction, poetry and reportage of the Pacific War of 1942-5. New Guinea has attracted such writers as James McAuley, Peter Ryan, Trevor Shearston, Randolph Stow and Drusilla Modjeska. The short stories of Louis Becke are the most extensive and iconoclastic writing about the Pacific by any Australian. Yet the literature of the Pacific littoral seems thinner than that of the Indian Ocean. The map on the title page of Rolf Boldrewood’s A Modern Buccaneer (1894) shows those afore-mentioned specks in a vast expanse of water. What aesthetic challenges have Pacific writing posed and how have they been met? Have the waters of the Pacific satisfied Australians as a near offshore playground but defeated wider efforts of the imagination? ' (Publication summary)
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Masterly Hands
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July-August no. 343 2012; (p. 56-57)
— Review of Mr J W Lewin : Painter & Naturalist 2012 single work biography -
Australia's 'Twitterverse' Explored
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28-29 April 2012; (p. 37)
— Review of A Steady Hand : Governor Hunter and His First Fleet Sketchbook 2012 single work biography ; Mr J W Lewin : Painter & Naturalist 2012 single work biography -
Birds of a Different Feather
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 April 2012; (p. 24)
— Review of Mr J W Lewin : Painter & Naturalist 2012 single work biography -
Off the Shelf : Art
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 24 March 2012; (p. 31)
— Review of Mr J W Lewin : Painter & Naturalist 2012 single work biography
-
Off the Shelf : Art
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 24 March 2012; (p. 31)
— Review of Mr J W Lewin : Painter & Naturalist 2012 single work biography -
Birds of a Different Feather
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 21 April 2012; (p. 24)
— Review of Mr J W Lewin : Painter & Naturalist 2012 single work biography -
Australia's 'Twitterverse' Explored
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 28-29 April 2012; (p. 37)
— Review of A Steady Hand : Governor Hunter and His First Fleet Sketchbook 2012 single work biography ; Mr J W Lewin : Painter & Naturalist 2012 single work biography -
Masterly Hands
2012
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , July-August no. 343 2012; (p. 56-57)
— Review of Mr J W Lewin : Painter & Naturalist 2012 single work biography -
A Cup of Tea with Richard Neville, Mitchell Librarian, Stae Library of NSW
2012
single work
interview
— Appears in: Inside History , March - April no. 9 2012; (p. 10) -
Literature of the Pacific, Mainly Australian
2013
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Etropic : Electronic Journal of Studies in the Tropics , vol. 12 no. 2 2013; (p. 210-219)This lecture is in some ways the ‘lost’ chapter of The Cambridge History of Australian Literature (2009), one eventually not written because the projected author could find not enough literary material even in that vast Pacific Ocean, or perhaps found – as mariners have – only far separated specks in that ocean. Yet Australian literature about the nation’s Pacific littoral and the islands within the ocean and the ocean itself is varied, considerable, and often eccentric. Our greatest drinking song is Barry Humphries’s ‘The Old Pacific Sea’. The Japs and the jungle are the hallmarks of fiction, poetry and reportage of the Pacific War of 1942-5. New Guinea has attracted such writers as James McAuley, Peter Ryan, Trevor Shearston, Randolph Stow and Drusilla Modjeska. The short stories of Louis Becke are the most extensive and iconoclastic writing about the Pacific by any Australian. Yet the literature of the Pacific littoral seems thinner than that of the Indian Ocean. The map on the title page of Rolf Boldrewood’s A Modern Buccaneer (1894) shows those afore-mentioned specks in a vast expanse of water. What aesthetic challenges have Pacific writing posed and how have they been met? Have the waters of the Pacific satisfied Australians as a near offshore playground but defeated wider efforts of the imagination? ' (Publication summary)