Topographical sketchbook of pencil drawings taken around Sturt's Depot Glen, far-western New South Wales, with a handwritten note and 2 additional sketches on sheets, December 1862-December 1863

PXB 1724

fonds

December 1862-December 1863

Graphic Materials, Drawings, Textual Records

9616444

1 sketchbook (34 drawings), 2 sheets of drawings and 0.01 metres of textual material (1 box) - pencil - 12 x 18 cm.

On 10 August 1844 Charles Sturt left Adelaide with 15 men to explore north-western New South Wales and central Australia. They made a camp at Depot Glen on Preservation Creek but were stranded there by the extreme summer conditions until July. When the rains eventually came Sturt moved his party north and established a camp at Fort Grey. From there he pressed on to the Simpson Desert before returning to Adelaide in January 1846.

Eighteen years later in 1862-1863, the unknown artist of this sketchbook made a tour of remote western New South Wales which included a two-week side trip from his main camp, accompanied by an Indigenous companion, to areas explored by Sturt in 1845 including Depot Glen. The sketchbook is an addendum to Sturt’s third expedition in 1844-46 because, as the unknown artist makes clear in an accompanying two-page note, he diverged from his own journey with the express intention of retracing part of Sturt’s tracks.

Reference:
Library correspondence file.

Held in private Sydney collection for more than 20 years

A small oblong octavo sketchbook with 34 pencil sketches by an unknown artist, most on double pages with dates and titles, in the original tan leather binding with brass clasp and pencil in a sleeve on the spine. There is also a handwritten note on both sides of folded blue paper, and two additional sheets with further sketches, loosely inserted. The note and 2 sheets are unsigned with no date.

The majority are topographical views with a few portraits including an Indigenous woman called “Tommy’s mother”, and two white men (one has been cut out and pasted in). The topographical views include a series depicting Depot Glen and its environs. One titled “Poole’s gum” shows a tree carved with “J.P. 1845”, the initials of James Poole, Sturt’s second-in-command who died there of scurvy. On the opposite page is “Remains of Sturt’s Depot Camp near Mt Poole”. Other views in the book include a camp site showing a man seated inside one of two bark huts, “Mt Lyell”, “Deep Creek”, “Yerroanya waterhole", and “Punnakunyara Creek”.

The handwritten note describes the artist's exploration around the Depot Glen vicinity.

Out of copyright: Creator died before 1955
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Majority of drawings are dated.