SOME WORTH-WHILE RE-ISSUES

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30308, 7 December 1963, Page 3

SOME WORTH-WHILE RE-ISSUES

A growing practice to reset and re-issue worth-while books, some of which have long been out of print, is a publishing activity to be thoroughly applauded. Under the general title “Rare Works of Imaginative Fiction,” Gollancz have undertaken a series of reprints, the first three titles being “The Purple Cloud,” “A Voyage to Arcturus,” and “Medusa.” The publishers explain that in this context the word “rare” means that the books, long since out of print and eagerly sought for, are practically unobtainable. M. P. Shiel, the author of “The Purple Cloud,” which was first published in 1901, had a host of discerning admirers, among them some of the best critics and writers of the early years of the ccentury. The vividly imaginative work of David Lindsay, expressed in “A Voyage to Arcturus,” became a vogue in literary England in the late 1920'5. E. H. Visiak’s “Medusa” was described by Walter de la Mare as “a most remarkable book—product of a mind as resolutely individual and as strange as Blake’s.” A similar motive underlies Angus and Robertson’s “Sirius Books,” a series which will be a library of memorable Australian books in all categories of literature. With the “Sirius Books” the publishers adopt the innovation of publishing simultaneously paperback and cloth-bound editions.

Readers who do not know Kenneth Mackenzie will find delight in a sensitive, lyrical style in whic.i a moving story of an adolescent boy’s development is told in “The Young Desire It.” Of quite different character is the reissue of Dr. W. J. Dakin’s “Whalemen Adventurers,” first published in 1934. This classic of the history of

whaling in Australia, New Zealand and the South Seas is brought up-to-date in an authoritative foreward. A fine body of poetry is included in a third “Sirius” book —a selection of Judith Wright's published work, issued here under the title “Five Senses.” The collection allows the reader to follow the development of a notable Australian poet. Dents have selected among the best children’s books published in the last few years, and have re-issued some in their “Pennant” series. Noel Streatfield’s “Curtain Up,” a now-famous story of children at an acting school, has already appeared in six editions. Margaret Govan’s “The Trial of the Red Canoe” displays the author’s knowledge of the beautiful Algonquin Park in Canada’s Northern Ontario, where her child characters spend an adventurous holiday “canoetripping.” Charm and freshness, and the bracing air of the Swiss mountains, run through the stories in Johanna Spyri’s “All Alone in the World.” -Whimsy which I makes no-one feel squeamish pervades Lorna Wood’s “Rescue by Broomstick,” a story in which Hag Dowsabel reappears. By contrast, action and excitement are packed into Arthur Catherall’s "Java Sea Duel,” a story concerning attempts to raise a sunken Japanese cruiser loaded with gold. The appearance of Joyce West’s “Drovers Road” in this series of children’s books of quality is a further compliment both to a New Zealand author and her book, which has already appeared in three editions. In the “Pennant” edition, this story of life on a New Zealand sheep station, seen through the eyes of an engaging girl, will find new admirers.