Louella Kerr Books
Member of ANZAAB - Australia
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Art
Australiana
Children's Books
Illustrated Books
Literature
Women
Louella Kerr Books was established in Sydney in the early 1980s by Louella and her generally silent partner Gerard Windsor. Both of us being voracious readers, our stock has an emphasis on literature, classics, children’s books, history, biography, travel, books about books, art and illustrated books, and of course, Australiana. We nevertheless offer interesting, ephemeral, and unusual books in any genre.
We no longer have a bricks and mortar store, dealing mainly through catalogues and the internet
Highlights
WHITCOMBE, Eleanor.My Brilliant Career. Final script of the screenplay of the film of the novel by Miles Franklin.
$550
[Together with] A publicity photograph [21x14cm] of Judy Davis, who plays the heroine, Sybylla Melvyn. [Sydney, 1978]: 77 typed pages, printed one side of paper only. Folio, card covers. a little spotting to edges, very good. The 1979 film was directed by Gillian Armstrong and produced by Margaret Fink. The days of filming are hand written throughout [Day 23, Day 41, etc], and on the back cover 'Mon Nov 20 - Fri Nov 24 Michelago Judy - all scenes'. My Brilliant Career was the breakthrough film for Armstrong, Davis, and her co-star Sam Neill.
BEAN, C.E.W. Flagships Three
$295
London, Alston Rivers, 1913. First edition: ppxvi, 340, photo plates, b/w ills; 8vo, original cloth, gilt. Scattered foxing, else a good copy. Signed by Bean `E. C.[Effie, his wife] & C. E. W. Bean. This copy kept for record'.
[GORDON, Adam Lindsay]. Sea Spray and Smoke Drift. By the author of 'Ashtaroth'. [Tog. with] Adam Lindsay Gordon. His Friends in England and Australia. By Edith Humphris and Douglas Sladen. 285187
$595
Melbourne, George Robertson, 1867, & London, Constable, 1912. First editions: pp(ii), 172, 8vo, & ppxxxii, 464 pages, 17 plates, text ills; 8vos, `Sea Spray' in original pebbled cloth gilt, slightly rubbed and faded: The biography, a very fine copy in pictorial cloth gilt.. Jonathan Wantrup sees `some irony in the fact that the first poet to give voice to verse that was distinctively Australian was not native-born but a Scottish remittance man' and suggests that of `Sea Spray' `500 copies were printed of which only a hundred sold'.
GOSSIP, G.H.D. The Chess-Players' Manual containing the laws of the game according to the revised code laid down by the British Chess Association in 1862. Revised and edited with an American Appendix by S. Lipschutz.
$895
[Together with] The Statu Quo Chess Board . New York, Routledge, & London, Jaques & Son, c.1880s: ppxii, 884, vi, 122 (Appendix). Illustrated, large thick 8vo, pictorial cloth, slightly marked, a good copy. The antique In Statu Quo travelling chess set consists of a mahogany and brass box [23x23cms] with red and white bone pieces. Box, mechanism and pieces in fine condition, in the original black leather case (flap detached but complete). The chess pieces each have a lockable brass fitting to their underside which holds them in place when the box is closed, allowing the game to be paused.
LAWSON, Louisa. The Lonely Crossing And Other Poems.
$1295
Sydney, Dawn Office, [1905]. First edition: pp96, 2pp adverts. 8vo, cloth. 8vo, original cloth with sl. rubbed gilt lettering. A fine copy. Inscribed `from the authoress July 1915', and with a photograph of Louisa mounted on the verso of the titlepage. Also tipped in is the typescript of a poem `Farewell'. The only book of poems by the mother of Henry Lawson. From 1888 to 1905 she was editor and manager of the `Dawn', a literary journal for women. She published Henry Lawson's first book in 1894, and also short stories of her own.
Sydney Opera House Opening 1973 4 programs for the first performances in the newly completed Opera House.
$350
(a) Acoustic Test Concerts Sunday 21st January 1973. The ABC National Training Orchestra performed the first concerts in the OH - featuring Donald Smith, Elizabeth Fretwell, conducted by Robert Miller; (b) The first performance in the Drama Theatre on October 1st 1973 - The Old Tote Theatre Company's King Richard the Second: (c) Wanda Wilkomirska, the first violin soloist, with Geoffrey Parsons, in the Concert Hall November 1st 1973: and (d) Musica Viva's Opening Season November 21st, 1973, in the Music Room. Sydney, 1973: Original wrappers. Fine.
MOORE, Tom. The Works Of Thomas Moore, Esq. Comprehending all his melodies, ballads, etc. never before published without the accompanying music, embellished with a portrait, and a sketch of the author's life. 6 volumes.
$295
Paris, Galignani, 1819, first edition: Engraved portrait by James Heath from a miniature by Primer. 8vos, original boards, later cloth spines, leather titling labels. A little discolouring to uncut pages, else a good set. Tom Moore [1779-1852], Irish patriot, friend of Lord Byron, writer and poet, best known for his Irish Melodies such as `The Last Rose of Summer', `The Minstrel Boy', and `Believe me, if all those endearing young charms' (all included here).
[PARKES, Sir Henry]. The surprising adventures of that redoubtable Knight of Faulconbridge, the Honorable Sir Henry Parkes, K.C.M.G, Colonial Secretary of N.S.W., on his way round the world, together with his speeches.
$496
Sydney, 1882. First edition: pp24, 12 b/w cartoons (depicting Parkes in various situations); 4to, original stab sown wrappers. Paper tanned, else very good. A humorous piece of ephemera, supposedly following Parkes around the world. Sir Henry Parkes, five-times premier of New South Wales, Father of Federation, Knight Grand Cross, and founder of free public education. He lived at Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains