UQ Alumni rare book auction to feature novel items

A 1727 edition of Milton's Paradise Lost will be among items for sale at The University of Queensland Alumni Association's biennial rare book auction on April 20.

The book, which includes an essay on the life of John Milton, is one of about 150 items expected to be auctioned at 6.30pm in the Mayne Hall foyer at St Lucia (viewing from 4pm to 6pm).

Rare book auction convenor Keith Price said some fascinating items would go under the hammer.

"As it's the Centenary of the Boer War, we've been very fortunate to be given items such as Cassell's Story of the Boer War 1899-1901 by Richard Danes, told from a British perspective, and a separate book from a Boer perspective, Christian De Wet's account of the Boer War, translated from the Dutch," he said.

"The Australiana collection includes a bound copy of the 1904 issues of Steele Rudd's magazine, featuring sketches by Norman Lindsay and Ashton Murphy. There's a wonderful cricket discourse The Noblest Game by Neville Cardus including the first Laws of Cricket. The book also features cricket prints in history by John Arlott, with 48 colour and 16 monochrome plates, the earliest from 1743.

"Social historians would appreciate the Queensland Board of General Education's annual reports for the first 10 years from 1860 to 1869. This book contains class timetables which showed the children studying subjects from general geometry to Euclid, to parsing and grammar, singing and English history. Australian history did not appear to exist.

"Even in the Grade Four timetables one can see gender differences in education with girls learning needlework while boys did not. The book provides exam questions for Student Teachers, who were older students who had performed well, but had not yet entered teacher's college. One exam question asks Student Teachers to name the illustrious contemporaries of Virgil. I wonder how many people could answer that question today?"

Mr Price said the collection also included a 1909 presentation copy, Queensland, Our First Half-Century to MLA J. May by The Hon. W. Kidston, named as the Prime Minister (sic) of Queensland.

The rare book auction precedes the Alumni Association's 12th biennial book fair at Mayne Hall from April 21 to 26, daily from 11am to 6pm, except April 25 (noon to 6pm) at which 100,000 items, ranging from books, to magazines to sheet music, records and board games will be offered for sale.

Association members are hoping to top their 1999 record book fair fund raising effort of $140,000 to support initiatives such as the UQ Excellence in Teaching Awards, the Great Court Race, SunShark, the Alumnus and Graduate of the Year, sporting scholarships, students with disabilities, and the University Debating Society.

Media: Further information, Keith Price or Book Fair convenor Bev Walker, telephone 07 3365 2263 or Alumni executive officer Ms Lynne Norris telephone 07 3365 1561 or Jan King at UQ Communications 07 3365 1120.