The handsome reissue in one volume, by Collins, of Australian Legendary Tales with illustrations by Rex Backhaus-Smith, is a most welcome addition to current publications for Australian enthusiasts and certainly well overdue.

This collection of Aboriginal myths, legends and fables was originally published in two volumes, Australian Legendary Tales in 1897 and More Australian Legendary Tales in 1898. Both’ contained illustrations by an unnamed Aboriginal artist which, for eloquence of line and poetry of balanced movement, are not surpassed by the evocatively appropriate illustrations provided by Backhaus-Smith in this new volume. However, for readers possessing both publications the contrast in artistic styles provides much food for thought.

Most praiseworthy in this new publication is the fact that the publishers have resisted the temptation to ‘edit’ the text. So often, when Europeans enter the arena of pre-literate myths, fables and legends, they cannot resist the temptation to meddle with symbols and structures and, in so doing, effectively destroy the subtle symbolism, the life-blood of the tales and the ethos informing those who originally told them.

The whole area of the nature, structure, function and relationship of myth to the sociocultural concepts expressed in any society is, particularly in westernised cultures, currently either totally ignored or woefully misunderstood.