The Australian and Other Verses

Description

The perfect collector's item - a beautiful facsimile edition of Will Ogilvie's poetry published by Angus & Robertson during World War One as a gift from home to the soldier in the trenches. Poet and horseman Will Ogilvie retained his affection for Australia and Australians long after he returned to his native Scotland. His most famous poem, 'The Australian', commemorates the courage shown by Australian soldiers at Gallipoli, and bears the immortal epigraph: 'The bravest thing God ever made'.This edition, published to commemorate the centenary of the end of World War One, has been minted from one of eight extremely rare books of verse originally published by Angus & Robertson as little reminders of home for soldiers to slip into a pocket and carry through the fighting. It features original layout, illustrations by Hal Gye, advertising and blurbs, as well as the special 'Trench' dust jacket that wraps around the regular jacket, missing on nearly all rare extant original editions.

William Henry (Will) Ogilvie (1869-1963), poet and journalist, was born near Kelso, Scotland, and came to Australia in 1889. He worked horse-breaking, droving, mustering and camped out in an area that ran from the Channel country of Queensland to the Coorong of South Australia. He contributed ballads to the Bulletin and the Melbourne Weekly Times, among other publications. His best known poems include 'The Death of Ben Hall' and 'Fair Girls and Gray Horses'. He also wrote 'On Morant' for his good friend Harry 'The Breaker' Morant. Will Ogilvie returned to Scotland in 1901 and continued to write poems about Australia, including, during World War One, his tribute to the country he left, The Australian and Other Verses.