[Editor: This collection of poems and short stories, first published in 1894, was Henry Lawson’s first book. It was published by his mother, Louisa Lawson, who owned and edited The Dawn magazine. Henry Lawson’s works had already been published as individual pieces in publications such as The Bulletin, The Boomerang, and The Worker.]
Short Stories in Prose and Verse
By Henry Lawson.
CONTENTS.
[Preface]
We called him “Ally” for short
L. Lawson,
401 George Street, Sydney
Source:
Henry Lawson. Short Stories in Prose and Verse, L. Lawson, Sydney, [1894]
Editor’s notes:
1) Henry Lawson was not happy with the quality of the book. Inscribed on the title page of the copy he gave to David Scott Mitchell (held in the Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales), Lawson has written an inscription, as follows: “This is my first book. Only a few copies were published, fortunately. I withdrew the book from publication. The book should be interesting as a curiosity in printing. H Lawson”.
2) The poems “When the Children Come Home” and “A Derry on a Cove”, as well as the Preface, were included in the book, although they did not appear in the original contents list.
3) The contents page does not list the contents in the order in which they appear in the book.
The order of appearance of the poems and stories in the book (with page numbers) is as follows:
Preface [unnumbered pages]
1-5 “Rats”
6-7 A Narrow Escape
8-16 We called him “Ally” for short
17-23 Bush Cats
24-25 Johnson, Alias Crow
26-39 The Drover’s Wife
40-45 The Fire at Ross’s Farm
46-53 The Union Buries its Dead
54 A Typical Bush Yarn
55-71 The Bush Undertaker
72-75 The Legend of Coo-ee Gully
76-82 Macquarie’s Mate
83-84 When the Children Come Home
85-90 The Mystery of Dave Regan
91-92 A Derry on a Cove
93-94 Trouble on the Selection
4) The title for the short story “Rats” is given without quotation marks on the contents page, but with quotation marks on page 1.
5) The title of one poem is given as “A Legend of Coo-e Gully” on the contents page, but appears as “The Legend of Coo-ee Gully” on page 72.
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