Australia (Bookshelf)

Additional titles available via subject search.

See also Project Gutenberg Australia

Contents 1 History 1.1 General 1.2 Discovery and Exploration 1.2.1 Pre European Settlement 1.2.2 Post European Settlement/Colonial Era 1.2.3 Explorers Journals & Other Primary Sources 1.2.3.1 Land 1.2.3.2 Ocean 1.3 Gold Rush 1.4 The Great War 2 Native Peoples 3 People 3.1 Biographies, etc. 3.2 Noteworthy Authors and their Works 3.2.1 Becke, George Lewis 3.2.2 Bruce, Mary Grant 3.2.3 Dennis, C. J. (Clarence James) 3.2.4 Lawson, Henry 3.2.5 Lindsay, Norman 3.2.6 Patterson, A. B (Andrew Barton) 'Banjo' 4 Non Fiction 4.1 General 4.2 Agriculture 4.3 Government Documents 4.4 Life 5 Fiction 6 Uncategorized

History

General

• A Source Book of Australian History  Swinburne, Gwendolen H.
• History of Australia and New Zealand From 1606 to 1890  Sutherland, Alexander, 1852-1902
• The History of Tasmania by West, John

Vol 2 

• Le Tour du Monde; Australie: Journal des voyages et des voyageurs; 2. sem. 1860  (French) Charton, Édouard
• Australia, its history and present condition containing an account both of the bush and of the colonies, with their respective inhabitants  Pridden, W. (William), 1810-

Discovery and Exploration

The European exploration of Australia encompasses several waves of seafarers and land explorers. Although Australia is often said to have been discovered by Royal Navy Lt. (later Captain) James Cook in 1770, he was merely one of a number of European explorers to have sighted and landed on the continent prior to English settlement, and he did so 164 years after the first such documented encounter. Nor did the exploration of Australia end with Cook; explorers by land and sea continued to survey the continent for many years after settlement. [Wikipedia]

Pre European Settlement

Although it is possible that the Portuguese Luis Vaez de Torres and Pedro Fernandes de Queirós could have sighted Australia in 1605, the first documented and undisputed European sighting (and landing) of Australia was in 1606, by the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon aboard the Duyfken ... The most significant exploration of Australia in the 1600s was by the Dutch. [Wikipedia]

• The First Discovery of Australia and New Guinea Being The Narrative of Portuguese and Spanish Discoveries in the Australasian Regions, between the Years 1492-1606, with Descriptions of their Old Charts  Collingridge, George, 1847-1931
• Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World  Cook, James, 1728-1779
• An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, With Remarks on the Dispositions, Customs, Manners, Etc. of The Native Inhabitants of That Country. to Which Are Added, Some Particulars of New Zealand; Compiled, By Permission, From The Mss. of Lieutenant-Governor King.

Volume 1  ; Volume 2 

• A Voyage to New Holland  Dampier, William, 1652-1715
• A Continuation of a Voyage to New Holland  Dampier, William, 1652-1715
• The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765  Heeres, J. E. (Jan Ernst), 1858-1932
• Early Australian Voyages: Pelsart, Tasman, Dampier  Pinkerton, John, 1758-1826
• Terre Napoleón; a History of French Explorations and Projects in Australia  Scott, Ernest, 1867-1939
• Statistical, Historical and Political Description of the Colony of New South Wales and its Dependent Settlements in Van Diemen's Land With a Particular Enumeration of the Advantages Which These Colonies Offer for Emigration, and Their Superiority in Many Respects Over Those Possessed by the United States of America  Wentworth, William Charles

Post European Settlement/Colonial Era

• The Naval Pioneers of Australia  Becke, Louis, 1855-1913
• The Present Picture of New South Wales (1811)  Mann, David Dickinson
• The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work  Favenc, Ernest, 1845-1908
• The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888  Favenc, Ernest, 1845-1908
• An Historical Journal of the Transactions at Port Jackson and Norfolk Island  Hunter, John
• A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson  Tench, Watkin, 1759-1833

Explorers Journals & Other Primary Sources

The opening up of the interior to European settlement occurred gradually throughout the colonial period, and a number of these explorers are very well known. Burke and Wills are the best known for their failed attempt to cross the interior of Australia, but such men as Hamilton Hume and Charles Sturt are also notable -- if only because major geographical features, landmarks, and institutions have been named after them. [Wikipedia]

Land

• Australian Search Party  Eden, Charles Henry
• Journals of Expeditions of Discovery into Central Australia and Overland from Adelaide to King George's Sound in the Years 1840-1: Sent By the Colonists of South Australia, with the Sanction and Support of the Government: Including an Account of the Manners and Customs of the Aborigines and the State of Their Relations with Europeans  Eyre, Edward John, 1815-1901
• Explorations in Australia, Illustrated  Forrest, John, 1847-1918
• Australia Twice Traversed, Illustrated  Giles, Ernest, 1835-1897
• Journals of Australian Explorations  Gregory, Augustus Charles, 1819-1905 and Gregory, Francis Thomas, 1821-1888
• Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia by Grey, George, 1812-1898

Vol 1 , Vol 2 

• Narrative of the Overland Expedition of the Messrs. Jardine from Rockhampton to Cape York, Northern Queensland  Jardine, Frank, 1841-1919
• Narrative of a Survey of the Intertropical and Western Coasts of Australia; Performed between the years 1818 and 1822 by King, Phillip Parker, 1793?-1856

Vol 1 , Vol 2 

• Journal of an Overland Expedition in Australia : from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, a distance of upwards of 3000 miles, during the years 1844-1845  Leichhardt, Ludwig, 1813-1848
• McKinlay's Journal of Exploration in the Interior of Australia  McKinlay, John
• Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia  Mitchell, Thomas, 1792-1855
• Three Expeditions into the Interior of Eastern Australia by Mitchell, Thomas, 1792-1855

Vol 1 , Vol 2 

• Journals of Two Expeditions into the Interior of New South Wales  Oxley, John, 1781-1828
• Explorations in Australia; The Journals of John McDouall Stuart  Stuart, John McDouall, 1815-1866
• Expedition into Central Australia  Sturt, Charles, 1795-1869
• Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia  Sturt, Charles, 1795-1869
• Successful Exploration Through the Interior of Australia  Wills, William John, 1834-1861
• Journal of Landsborough's Expedition from Carpentaria. In search of Burke and Wills  Landsborough, William, -1886

Ocean

• Discoveries in Australia, With an Account of the Coasts and Rivers Explored and Surveyed During The Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle, in the Years 1837-38-39-40-41-42-43. By Command of the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. Also a Narrative Of Captain Owen Stanley's Visits to the Islands in the Arafura Sea.}}

Vol 1 , Vol 2 

• A Voyage to Terra Australis. Flinders, Matthew, 1774-1814

Volume 1  ; Volume 2 

• The Logbooks of the Lady Nelson. With the journal of her first commander Lieutenant James Grant  Lee, Ida, 1865-1943
• The Voyage of Governor Phillip to Botany Bay  Phillip, Arthur
• A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany-Bay  Tench, Watkin, 1759-1833

Gold Rush

The Victorian gold rush was a period in the history of Victoria in Australia between approximately 1851 and the early 1860s. During this decade, Victoria produced more than one third of the world's gold output. [Wikipedia]

The Eureka Stockade was a gold miners' revolt in 1854 in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia, against the officials supervising the mining of gold in the region of Ballarat ... The Eureka Stockade (or more accurately, the driving force of public opinion that followed) has been characterised as the "Birth of Democracy" within Australia ... The Eureka Stockade was certainly the most prominent rebellion in Australia's history and, depending on how one defines rebellion, can be regarded as the only such event. [Wikipedia]

• A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53  Clacy, Ellen
• Eureka Stockade, The  Carboni, Raffaello, 1817-1885
• Gold Hunters' Adventures, The; Or, Life in Australia  Thomes, William H.
• In A New World or, Among The Gold Fields Of Australia  Alger, Horatio, 1832-1899
• Robbery under Arms; a story of life and adventure in the bush and in the Australian goldfields  Boldrewood, Rolf, 1826-1915
• Spinifex and Sand  Carnegie, David Wynford, 1871-1900

The Great War

When World War I broke out in 1914, all of the Commonwealth nations, including Australia, were called to defend Great Britain. Like most of the Commonwealth nations, Australians' sacrifices and contributions to the war would change many facets in Australian history. Australians fought in German New Guinea, Turkey, Palestine and on the Western Front. The landing of Australian troops at Gallipoli is recognized as one of the defining points in modern Australian history. [Wikipedia]

• 28th, The: A Record of War Service in the Australian Imperial Force, 1915-19  Collett, Herbert Brayley, 1877-1947
• Five Months at Anzac: A Narrative of Personal Experiences of the Officer Commanding the 4th Field Ambulance, Australian Imperial Force  Beeston, Joseph Lievesley, 1859-1921
• Over the Top With the Third Australian Division  Cuttriss, G. P.
• Digger Smith  Dennis, C. J. (Clarence James), 1876-1938
• Kangaroo Marines, The  Campbell, R. W.

Native Peoples

Indigenous Australians are descendants of the first known human inhabitants of the Australian continent and its nearby islands. The term includes both the Torres Strait Islanders and the Aboriginal People, who together make up about 2.5% of Australia's population ... The general consensus among scholars for the arrival of humans in Australia is placed at 40,000 to 50,000 years ago with a possible range of up to 70,000 years ago though not as widely supported. At the time of first European contact, it has been estimated the absolute minimum pre-1788 population was 315,000, while recent archaeological finds suggest that a population of 750,000 could have been sustained.[Wikipedia]

• The Belief in Immortality and the Worship of the Dead, Volume I (of 3) The Belief Among the Aborigines of Australia, the Torres Straits Islands, New Guinea and Melanesia  Frazer, Sir James George
• Australian Legendary Tales: folklore of the Noongahburrahs as told to the Piccaninnies  Parker, K. Langloh (Katie Langloh), 1856-1940
• The Euahlayi Tribe; a study of aboriginal life in Australia  Parker, K. Langloh (Katie Langloh), 1856-1940
• Kinship Organisations and Group Marriage in Australia  Thomas, Northcote Whitridge, 1868-1936

People

Biographies, etc.

• Cook, James--(Explorer)...The Life of Captain James Cook  Kitson, Arthur

Narrative of the Voyages Round the World, Performed by Captain James Cook : with an Account of His Life During the Previous and Intervening Periods  Kippis, Andrew, 1725-1795

• Flinders, Matthew--(Explorer)...The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders  Scott, Ernest, 1867-1939

Noteworthy Authors and their Works

Becke, George Lewis

George Lewis Becke (18 June 1855 – 18 February 1913) was an Australian short-story writer and novelist.

• 38 Works are listed on the PG Author list [here]

Bruce, Mary Grant

Mary Grant Bruce (24 May 1878 – 2 July 1958), also known as Minnie Bruce, was an Australian children's author and journalist. While all her thirty-seven books enjoyed popular success in Australia and overseas, particularly in the United Kingdom, she was most famous for the Billabong series, focussing on the adventures of the Linton family on Billabong Station in Victoria and in England and Ireland during World War I.[Wikipedia]

• A Little Bush Maid 
• Back to Billabong 
• Mates at Billabong 

Dennis, C. J. (Clarence James)

Clarence Michael James Stanislaus Dennis, better known as C. J. Dennis, (7 September 1876 - 22 June 1938) was an Australian poet famous for his humorous poems, especially "The Sentimental Bloke", published in the early 20th century. [Wikipedia]

• A Book for Kids 
• Digger Smith 
• The Glugs of Glosh Text  Audio 
• The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke 

Lawson, Henry

Henry Lawson (17 June 1867 - 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period.[Wikipedia]

• Children of the Bush 
• In the Days When the World Was Wide and Other Verses 
• Joe Wilson and His Mates 
• On the Track 
• Over the Sliprails 
• The Rising of the Court 
• While the Billy Boils 

Lindsay, Norman

Norman Lindsay (22 February 1879 - 21 November 1969), Australian artist, sculptor, cartoonist and writer.

• The Magic Pudding, 1918 

Patterson, A. B (Andrew Barton) 'Banjo'

Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson (February 17, 1864 – February 5, 1941) was a famous Australian bush poet, journalist and author. He wrote many ballads and poems about Australian life, focusing particularly on the rural and outback areas, including the district around Binalong, New South Wales where he spent much of his childhood. Paterson's more notable poems include "Waltzing Matilda", "The Man from Snowy River" and "Clancy of the Overflow". [Wikipedia]

• The Man from Snowy River 
• The Old Bush Songs 
• Outback Marriage, an : a story of Australian life 
• Rio Grande's Last Race & Other Verses 
• Saltbush Bill, J. P. 
• Three Elephant Power and Other Stories 

Non Fiction

General

• Confessions of a Beachcomber  Banfield, E. J. (Edmund James), 1852-1923
• Letters from the Guardian to Australia and New Zealand  Shoghi Effendi, 1897-1957
• The Art of Living in Australia ; together with three hundred Australian cookery recipes and accessory kitchen information by Mrs. H. Wicken  Muskett, Philip E., -1909
• Reminiscences of Queensland 1862-1869  Corfield, W. H. (William Henry), 1843-1903

Agriculture

• Australia, The Diary Country  Australia, Dept. of External Affairs
• Fruits of Queensland  Benson, Albert H.
• Wheat Growing in Australia  Australia. Dept. of External Affairs

Government Documents

• QUEENSLAND: Report on the Department of Ports and Harbours for the Year 1890-91  Australia. Queensland. Department of Ports and Harbours

Life

• Lady Bridget in the Never-Never Land: a story of Australian life  Praed, Campbell, Mrs., 1851-1935
• We of the Never-Never  Gunn, Jeannie, 1870-1961
• Town Life in Australia  Twopeny, Richard Ernest Nowell, 1857-1915
• Shearing in the Riverina  Boldrewood, Rolf, 1826-1915

Fiction

• A Little Bush Maid  Bruce, Mary Grant, 1878-1958
• Colonial Born: A tale of the Queensland bush  Scott, G. Firth
• Dot and the Kangaroo Older PG Release  ; Recent PG Release 
• Final Reckoning A, A Tale of Bush Life in Australia  Henty, G. A. (George Alfred), 1832-1902
• Gilpins and their Fortunes, The; A Story of Early Days in Australia  Kingston, William Henry Giles, 1814-1880
• Grey Town: An Australian Story  Baldwin, Gerald
• In The Far North  Becke, Louis, 1855-1913
• Land of the Kangaroo, The  Thomas Wallace Knox, Illustrated by H. Burgess
• Peter Biddulph, The Story of an Australian Settler  Kingston, W.H.G., 1814-1880
• Peter Parley's Tales About America and Australia  Goodrich, Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold), 1793-1860
• Queensland Cousins  Haverfield, Eleanor Luisa
• Seven Little Australians  Turner, Ethel Sybil, 1872-1958
• Workingman's Paradise, The; An Australian Labour Novel  Miller, John Maurice

Uncategorized

• Adventures in Australia  Kingston, William Henry Giles, 1814-1880
• "Over There" with the Australians  Knyvett, R. Hugh (Reginald Hugh), -1918
• An Australian in China Being the Narrative of a Quiet Journey Across China to Burma  Morrison, George Ernest, 1862-1920
• Outback Marriage, an : a story of Australian life  Paterson, A. B. (Andrew Barton), 1864-1941
• Australia Felix  Richardson, Henry Handel, 1870-1946
• An Anthology of Australian Verse  ed. by Stevens, Bertram, 1872-1922
• Mates at Billabong  Bruce, Mary Grant, 1878-1958
• My Brilliant Career  Franklin, Miles, 1879-1954
• For the Term of His Natural Life  Clarke, Marcus Andrew Hislop, 1846-1881
• Such Is Life  Furphy, Joseph, 1843-1912
• On Our Selection  Rudd, Steele, 1868-1935
• The Beginning Of The Sea Story Of Australia  Becke, Louis, 1855-1913
• The Colonial Mortuary Bard; "'Reo," The Fisherman; and The Black Bream Of Australia  Becke, Louis, 1855-1913
• A Memory Of The Southern Seas  Becke, Louis, 1855-1913
• Austral English - A dictionary of Australasian words, phrases and usages with those aboriginal-Australian and Maori words which have become incorporated in the language, and the commoner scientific words that have had their origin in Australasia  Morris, Edward Ellis, 1843-1901