In Search of Edward John Eyre
Macmillan, 152 pp., $19.95 pb
In Search of Edward John Eyre by Geoffrey Dutton
In this volume, a valued literary companion of long standing has been stripped of two-thirds of its substance, all of its footnotes and bibliography, even acknowledgments; and the remnant, daubed with illustrations, comes out dressed for a different marketplace.
Dutton’s admirable first biography of Eyre – The Hero as Murderer, (1967, Collins/Cheshire) gets no mention here, not even in the blurb on book and author. Yet it is the same author, same subject, same epigraphs, same dedication: and the text, apart from some stringing together, is extracts from the original. Only title, index, extra illustrations, and the publisher are quite new; and there is not one word to inform intending buyers and readers that this book is not new writing published for the first time in 1982.
Continue reading for only $10 per month. Subscribe and gain full access to Australian Book Review. Already a subscriber? Sign in. If you need assistance, feel free to contact us.
In Search of Edward John Eyre
by Geoffrey Dutton
Macmillan, 152 pp., $19.95 pb
Leave a comment
If you are an ABR subscriber, you will need to sign in to post a comment.
If you have forgotten your sign in details, or if you receive an error message when trying to submit your comment, please email your comment (and the name of the article to which it relates) to ABR Comments. We will review your comment and, subject to approval, we will post it under your name.
Please note that all comments must be approved by ABR and comply with our Terms & Conditions.