Peter Conrad — At Home in Australia

London, Thames and Hudson, 2003. First edition. Cloth. A very smart first edition of this emotive account of one nation's history from Australian academic, Peter Conrad, signed in presentation to Carmen Callil. First edition. Signed and inscribed by the author to the front free endpaper, in presentation to Carmen Callil, an Australian publisher who founded Virago Press in 1973, to "publish books which celebrated women and women's lives, and which would, by so doing, spread the message of women's liberation to the whole population". Virago publish works by new and neglected female authors, publishing the works by authors such as Daphne du Maurier, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Margaret Atwood, and Angela Carter, all with a distinctive green spine synonymous with Virago. Illustrated with over two hundred images from the collections of the National Gallery of Australia, some of which are in colour. An intensely personal and deeply felt account of a nation's history and the strength of character that enabled Australians to survive in their strange, ancient land. This is a many-layered story that depicts the make and remaking of a nation, being a social history from the trials of the frontier to the hedonistic urban society of the present day. Written by Peter Conrad, an Australian-born academic specialising in English literature, who taught at Christ Church at the University of Oxford, and is a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. In the original full cloth binding. Externally, excellent. Original unclipped dust wrapper is also excellent. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright with minor tide marks to the extremities. Author's ink inscription and the previous owner's bookplate to the front free endpaper. Near Fine . Ill.: Not Stated. Near Fine/Fine.