Original blue cloth

Component identifier:

Item 86

Content Summary:

With drawings in colour of C.J. Dennis and Hal Gye, on end-paper. With inscription: 'Dear Harry Chaplin: Here we are - 'Den' and his illustrator. Yours sincerely, Hal Gye. January 1954'. 'P.S. See page 112. H.G.'.

Upon page 112 is illustration depicting a bushman overlooking a shack, with Hal Gye's annotation thereon: 'The picture of shack is not Den's Toolangi shack'. 'Dear Harry: Don't blame me for this, it was drawn by some 'foreign' artist. It was drawn for the cloth cover of Jim of the hills, with more solid blacks in it. This one looks like a second drawing. It is one of two drawings by someone else that broke in somehow. The other one is the Digger Smith cover. They are the only two 'outsiders' among the C.J.D. books. Dunno how it happened. Yours Hal'. [The dust-jacket for this book depicts a series of Dennis characters quite out of harmony with the poet's creations. I 'dunno' either why Hal Gye was not asked to supply a suitable jacket. Chaplin]

Tipped into this copy is long series of notes about the poem, 'The singing soldiers', by Hal Gye. The poem was set to music and often sung by Howard White. The first printing of this book was an edition of 9873 copies in December 1950, priced at 12/6. Later a further 10054 copies were issued, priced at 15/- in September 1951. A third printing of 5000 copies was issued in May 1953, priced at 15/-. Allowing for 1687 copies on hand at December 1953, the total sales to that time were 23240. No figures were available to me after that date.

NOTE: In 1929 Dennis was discussing by correspondence the issue of a Collected Edition; copy of a letter from C.J.D. to George Robertson, partly in typescript and autograph, is included in this copy, dated March 22, 1929.

Immediate source of acquisition:

The collection was purchased from Harry Chaplin in 1981.

Names:

Chaplin, Harry F.

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