AustLit

'In the 1870s in Melbourne, it so happened that on opposite sides of Collins Street, a fine street in 'one of the most successful cities on the face of the earth', there were two organisations: one, for writers, the other for readers. 1868 had seen the founding by a group of friends (including Marcus Clarke) of a 'bohemian' club for writers: the Yorick. About the same time, an already well-established organisation for readers, the Melbourne Mechanics' Institution, was re-born under a new name - the Melbourne Athenaeum. In 1873, as part of its new image as cultural hub and provider of books and papers for Melbourne's growing middleclass, the Athenaeum appointed a writer for the theatre, Garnet Walch, as its secretary. A 'bohemian' helping to run a bourgeois organisation invites interest. Did Walch's appointment signal a new direction for the Athenaeum, or was there in fact less difference between the two organisations, (and by extension, between the readers and writers of their day) than appears at first sight? Or did the street that ran between their clubs symbolise a divide between bohemia and the bourgeoisie?' (Introduction)

'Love's Obsession is a well-written and fascinating account of the lives and work of Australian archaeologists, James ('Jim') Rivers Barrington Stewart and his wife, Dorothy Evelyn ('Eve'), nee Dray. Professor Jim Stewart was Australia's first lecturer in archaeology at the University of Sydney, a collector of Near Eastern artefacts and numismatist, and descendent of a pioneering grazier family near Bathurst. He was also the first Australian to direct archaeological excavations outside Australia, undertaking fieldwork principally in Cyprus from the 1930s to 1960s. ' (Introduction)

'For all its many positive qualities, this is a difficult book with which to fully engage. The font size is small and there are no maps or pictures to guide the reader. The text is weighed down with ornate phrases such as 'pervasive discursive dichotomy' (p. 165), which contrast sharply with the relatively straightforward, message-focused quotes from her primary sources. Further, the bulk of the book's narrative revolves around government-commissioned inquiries and elite opinion, with only limited discussion of the 'real world' significance and impact of these ideas. To give the author her due, the text does cite a range of citizen views, including farmers, graziers, medical officers and spokespersons for women's organisations. Nevertheless, too little attention to the outcomes of all this talk and writing on the urban-rural divide means that the reader is left with little appreciation of the undoubted importance of the themes explored to Australian history.' (Introduction)