PNGAA Library

Collecting the books of British New Guinea and Papua: Charles Fletcher

I specialize in the printed material and books of British New Guinea and Papua.

I have written this summary to give readers with an interest in colonial Papua New Guinea history an idea of the vast amount of written material available.

Fortunately it is still possible to acquire a reasonable library of first editions for a small outlay through the numerous internet book sites and by visiting second hand and antiquarian bookshops. Also the assistance of a book dealer (in my case the gentlemanly Bill McGrath of Pacific Book House) helps. The search engines of the National Library and State libraries are valuable research aids. With the advent of print-on-demand books and facsimile editions it is relatively easy to develop a library of the period. But to form a library of first editions, the aim of most bibliophiles, is harder.

Invariably with any collection there are items that rarely become available and there are expensive items (not necessarily the same). Still one collects in hope. Most collectors can tell of unexpected treasures being found on a dusty bookshelf, mispriced or mis-described. From my experience it is wiser to purchase scarcer items rather than wait (mostly in forlorn hope) for a better or cheaper volume to be located.

In this article I will concentrate on the period ending when British New Guinea was officially renamed the Territory of Papua in 1905 and when Australian administration commenced in 1906.

From 1847 to 1876, three coastal surveying and exploration voyage reports were published. Beete Jukes' two volume set Narrative of the Surveying Voyage of HMS Fly, 1847, John Macgillivray's Narrative of the Voyage of HMS Rattlesnake, two volumes, 1852 and lastly Captain John Moresby's Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea and the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, one volume published 1876. All of these books are still readily available in First Editions and in cheaper editions. Mention is made of a book, The Adventures of a Griffin on a Voyage of Discovery by Harden S Melville, published in 1867. Melville was the artist on Juke’s expedition and published a fictional (but based on fact) account of the voyage. This book is rare.

Before the arrival of the Rev. W.G.Lawes (the first permanent European resident of Port Moresby) in 1874, the Marist brothers had established a Mission station in 1847 on Woodlark Island, which was later abandoned. The only recorded book I am aware of from this era is Pierre Montrouzier’s Essai Sur La Faune De L'le De Woodlark published in 1885.

To supply the mission (which had been re-established by the Foreign Missionaries of Milan in 1852) the brig Gazelle sailed to Woodlark Island but the ship was plundered and crew murdered in September, 1855. The New South Wales Government, although aware of the tragedy, failed to dispatch a punitive expedition. The government published a 16-page report, Parliamentary Paper #4128-A, 1857, titled Massacre at Woodlark Island Of Crew and Passengers. Both these items are rare.

In 1871 the Reverend Samuel Macfarlane and Reverend Murray sailed from New Caledonia to New Guinea but, unlike Lawes, they established a Mission station on the Australian mainland at Somerset and later at Darnley Island in the Torres Strait. The original published account in 1872 of this journey is exceedingly rare. Fortunately, this report appears as a 40-page appendix in Macfarlane's book, The Story of the Lifu Mission (New Caledonia), 1873.  Macfarlane's other book Amongst the Cannibals of New Guinea was published in England in 1886 and in Philadelphia in 1888. Both editions become available from time to time. Macfarlane published a number of short reports on journeys with D'Albertis, Chester and Macgregor. All of these reports are scarce.

Luigi D'Albertis in 1880 published New Guinea What I Did and What I Saw, in two volumes. The set is readily available. There is a shorter version of this narrative in Italian.  D’Albertis was a disciple of gun boat diplomacy and refined the art on his Fly River voyage. A number of articles by D'Albertis have appeared in Geographical Society Journals.

Sir William Macgregor was appointed Administrator and later Lieutenant-Governor in 1888, retiring in 1896; Macgregor kept in close contact with the Government of Queensland who then communicated with the Colonial Office in London. The first of what evolved into a series (five in total) of Country Handbooks was produced by Sir William; Handbook of Information for Intending Settlers in British New Guinea was published in 1892. In 1897 and 1899 British New Guinea; Country and People a 100-page article was published by the Royal Geographical Society in their journal.

The annexation of British New Guinea was a debacle. Three attempts were made. In 1873 Captain John Moresby named and claimed three islands in the east of the country but ratification of this action by the Colonial Office was not granted. Then in 1883, Henry Chester, the Police magistrate on Thursday island and employed by the Government of Queensland, was instructed  to proceed to Port Moresby and annex the county and adjoining islands. This Chester did by hoisting the flag on 4 April 1883.The Colonial Secretary, Lord Derby, declared the whole exercise invalid. Chester has two books, both extremely rare. One is Narrative of Expeditions to New Guinea in a Series of Letters Addressed to the Colonial Secretary of Queensland, 1878. The other publication is even rarer, Proposed British Expedition to, and Settlement on, the great island of New Guinea, 1871.

Finally, in September of 1884, Commodore Erskine of HMS Nelson was requested by the Colonial Office to proceed to Port Moresby and annex British New Guinea to the Crown. The flag was hoisted, three cheers given, then a volley of shots, the Rev Lawes interpreting. By this time the villagers must have been bewildered.

Erskine's book documented the occasion. Narrative of the Expedition of the Australian Squadron to the South-East Coast of New Guinea October to December, 1884, New South Wales Government Printing Office in 1885, 500 printed. I am aware of four copies of this book that have listed for sale in the last 15 years, a most expensive book. The series of photographs in the book are attributed to Augustine Dyer, the New South Wales Government photographer. A magnificent facsimile edition (1000 copies) in slip case with simulated leather covers and gilt lettering was produced in 1984 to commemorate the opening of Papua New Guinea's Parliament House and also to commemorate the centenary year of the proclamation of British New Guinea. This edition is readily available.

Along with the annexation expedition two other books were printed. Keyser's Our Cruise to New Guinea (1885), a rare book, the other on the annexation was by Charles  Lyne, a reporter from the Sydney Morning Herald, who wrote New Guinea: An Account of the Establishment of the British Protectorate (1885), readily available. Both of these men sailed on the Nelson to British New Guinea.

In 1885 the Geographical Society of Australasia decided to sponsor an exploration journey to the Fly River. A detailed summary of the preparations, titled The Exploratory Expedition to New Guinea (Compiled by Edward Pulsford), was published 1885.

Two reports of the journey were printed, both of which are rare. Everill, the Captain of the Bonito, submitted an 18-page report, Exploration of New Guinea, which was also published in the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, NSW branch, in 1888. William Bauerlen, the botanist on the expedition, submitted his report titled The Voyage of the Bonito, An account of the Fly River expedition to New Guinea, Gibbs, Shallard and Co., 1886, 32 Pages. Lindt's Picturesque New Guinea, 1887, includes as an appendix Captain Everill’s report of the Fly River Expedition.

The first annual report from the protectorate was for the year 1886 by Her Majesty's Special Commissioner, Sir Peter Scratchley (1884-1885) but due to Scratchley's death was written by the Government Secretary, Seymour Fort. These annual reports make enthralling reading; there are new discoveries, new peoples, strange customs, hazardous and sometimes dangerous patrolling and basic living conditions. Queensland and Victoria each printed their own copies of the annual reports. The New South Wales Legislative Council also published The British New Guinea annual report for the year 1888 (apparently minus maps). I have not been able to locate any further annual reports from New South Wales. The British Colonial Office also published an annual report, minus maps. In 1886 the Federal Council of Australasia, meeting in Tasmania printed Douglas’s report of 1886, which appears to be the first and only annual report published by the Federal Council. The Colonial reports 15 in total were issued between 1886 and 1900.

Probably the most well-known book from this early period is Lindt's Picturesque New Guinea, 1887. Lindt accompanied Sir Peter Scratchley. Under-rated books as not only are the many photographs of historical interest but Lindt provides a detailed commentary of his activities. The first edition of this book is easily found and the facsimile edition published in 1980 is readily located. Lindt's other published work, British New Guinea Centennial Exhibition, Melbourne, 1888, is virtually unobtainable.

In 1891, Andrew George Maitland, a geologist, was seconded to British New Guinea by the Queensland Government. In 1892, his report Geological Observations in British New Guinea, 34 pages, with three folding maps and diagrams was published. Maitland accompanied Macgregor on his tours of inspection on the Government launch the Merrie England and as such many of his observations were hurried due to time limitations. The report is scarce.

The anthropologist, A.C. Haddon, who was based in the Torres Strait, worked also in the area west of Port Moresby and published in 1894 Decorative Art of British New Guinea—a study in Papuan ethnography. It is a monumental work which is occasionally available for sale. Haddon also published Headhunters, Black, White and Brown, 1901.

Probably the three most well-known missionary figures from the early years would be the Rev. George Lawes, James Chalmers and Charles Abel. Lawes and Chalmers were a formidable team. While Chalmers was away exploring and spreading the gospel, Lawes produced a vast amount of translation work amongst the Motuan. Lawes published Motu Grammar and Vocabulary 1885 and the revised editions of 1888 and 1896. He also published the New Testament in Motu, other biblical texts and a number of primary school aids.  Charles Abel who arrived in British New Guinea in 1890 eventually found the constraints of the London Missionary Society a hindrance to his missionary ideals.  He left (on good terms) and formed the Kwato mission. Abel wrote a children’s book, which is readily available, Savage Life in New Guinea, 1901, later translated into Welsh.  Of the three, James Chalmers was the most prolific. After being eaten on Goaribari Island in 1901 he became more of a legend. He wrote Adventures in New Guinea, 1886, and Pioneering in New Guinea in 1887, also a number of translations and published papers in Geographical Journals. There have been many books written about his life and unorthodox demise.

The above is an indication of the books available. There are many others, by missionaries, linguists and explorers (both government and private). There is little from traders or miners. Many books I have not mentioned, some are rare, some  readily available, while others appears from time to time on the numerous book sites. There are items that I am aware of but have never been able to purchase or see offered for sale.

Hopefully this article has provided an insight into what is available. The list is not exhaustive. British New Guinea and later Papua have been fortunate in the calibre of its senior Government Officials the skill and dedication of the anthropologists, linguists and missionaries who worked in the field. All this accomplished when communications were extremely basic and living conditions harsh.

The period between 1906 to the present is just as interesting, if not more so.

Charles Fletcher, 40 Franklin Road, Doncaster East, 3109
(03) 9842 1119