The Gold Hunters’ Adventure, or life in Australia
Boston: Lee and Shepard, 1864. 8vo. 564 pp. FIRST EDITION. Wood engraved frontispiece and 3 additional full-page plates. Publisher’s cloth, worn and rubbed, spine with title in gilt faded; interior good. Item #15298
First edition. American novelist William H. Thomes’ (1824-1895) debut adventure novel follows a California man who goes to Australia in search of gold. An entertaining and dramatic account of life on the frontier of Australia, this work did a great deal to promote the public misconceptions of Australia as a land of dangerous aborigines, a population the majority of which consists of felons sent from Great Britain, and lots of kangaroos.
The author was a member of the Boston publishing house of Elliott & Thomes; this was his first of many adventure novels.
Price: $150.00