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WORTHY COFFEE-TABILIA
i . ■
' A.S ITS name implies, the cof
; fee-table book is designed to sit
•on some convenient resting
- filace.
r ~ A coffee-table is as good place as
"any, from where it may be admired,
■ picked up, savoured, and after being
' passed around the company, put
'! back again. Its visual appeal is para
Amount, and its literary content
'.generally regarded as secondary.
' As an adornment, its place will be
'taken by the next of its kind to
; attract the eye of the lady of the
house or perhaps at Christmas time,
for despite its usual high price, a
.good piece of coffee-tabilia makes
most acceptable gift. But what then
to do \bith the piece being replaced?
'Awkward to shelve because of its
.size, it will have to lie flat on its back
'^somewhere, its attractive dust-jacket
^obscured beneath a pile of others of
its kind. No longer decorative, there
'it will sit until it is wanted again, if
ever. It will, however, have served its
'elegant purpose.
, 'Exploring Historic New South
Wales' will grace the coffee-table
superbly. Francis Greenway's
EXPLORING HISTORIC
NEW SOUTH WALES. By
Kalherine Bell and Ian Wigney.
Illustrated. Child and Henry.
112 pp.
Reviewer:
RON WINCH
Church of St Matthew at Windsor,
splendidly photographed, spreads
across the jacket, front and back,
and is in itself completely satisfying,
but on looking inside I found the text
itself to be well worth exploring.
Kathrine Bell and Ian Wigney, the
co-producers of the book, rather than
collecting a number of pictures and
then writing a piece about each, as
so often seems to happen, have set
out to cover the salient features of
the settlement and development of
New South Wales, and then, it
seemed to mc, sought out ap
propriate illustrations.
The result is a readable, though
essentially potted story of the State
in ten chapters. As well as chapters
on the Founders, Convicts,
Bushrangers that must inevitably ap
pear, there are others on Transport
and Communications, Responsible
Government and Federation, and the
Growth of Industry, all colourfully
and meaningfully illustrated.
As a bonus, there is a welcome
section which lists prominent sites
and buildings. It will serve as a
useful guide for quick reference.
My one mildly chiding remark
about this excellent example of cof
fee-tabilia is that among its three
ACT references is one of the stone
that once stood on the desolation
that was once Canberra's Capital
Hill. The stone is described as a
Commemoration Stone instead of a
Commencement Stone, but that is a
common enough mistake still being
made by some Canberrans. The fine
picture of the Commencement Stone
atop Capital Hill will bring much
pathos, and the feeling that the new
Parliament House will indeed have
to be something out of this world to
surpass the charm of the hilltop that
we have pushed into eternity.
One of the excellent line drawings that, with colour photographs, illustrate the book. Help
One of the excellent line
drawings that, with colour
photographs, illustrate the
book.
$