Rare Pre-war Antique Pictorial Canberra Souvenir Booklet - '39 Magnificent Views Illustrating Canberra, Australian Capital Territory' Published by H.R.James & Son (c.1934-1936)

Full Description

- This paper booklet is titled 39 Magnificent Views Illustrating Canberra, Australian Capital Territory; this edition is from 1930s original (circa 1930–1938) publications by H.R. James and Son; photographs were by Richard Claude Strangman (1895-1969) who was one of Canberra's most significant early commercial and documentary photographers; his work beautifully captured the conversion of the "Bush Capital" from open sheep paddocks into a planned federal city—one of Canberra’s most important early documentary photographers—to market his crisp, artistic architectural and landscape views; for more information about this photographer, please see - https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/P11038402 - This was published to promote the new federal capital: in the 1930s, Canberra was a tiny, unfinished "bush capital" and this booklet was designed to show skeptical Australians that a grand, modern city was actively rising out of the sheep paddocks; additionally as early automotive travel and train tourism grew, visitors to the infant capital needed a high-quality visual memento to take home and show their families - From the private collection of Bill Wood AM, former Queensland and ACT Member of Parliament and Minister for the Arts, and his wife Beverley - This booklet does show some wear and has been stored bent in half so shows that crease; tear to title page at top has been repaired with tape and some slight foxing in parts; otherwise another very rare find in good condition