Visit to Australian Colonies by James Backhouse (1843)

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Backhouse, James (1794 - 1869), A Narrative of a Visit to the Australian Colonies. [Hamilton, Adams & Co., London, 1843] Octavo, xviii, 560pp, cxliv (appendices) pages with in-text illustrations (by Backhouse), plates and 3 large folding maps. Contemporary half-leather and marbled boards, marbled end-papers, gilt edges. James Backhouse, naturalist & Quaker missionary, travelled throughout Australia with George Washington Walker. 'From their arrival at Hobart Town in 1832 until their departure from Fremantle in 1838, they visited from house to house in most of the scattered Australian settlements and found much demand for their services. During their three years in Van Diemen's Land (1832-34) Lieutenant-Governor Arthur found many useful tasks for them. His ready co-operation and disregard of red tape contrasted with that of the naval authorities in London who had refused their proffered services in a Sydney-bound convict transport because they lacked official status. In later voyages in convict ships in Australian waters Backhouse's medical knowledge helped the sick and wounded. Arthur granted the missionaries free access to all penal and Aboriginal establishments, encouraged their investigations and urged them to suggest improvements.

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Marbling - A descriptive term for a finish applied to plastic, ceramics, glass, plaster or wood to imitate the colours and characteristic markings of various marble types. For moulded items such as the first three above, the marbling is within the item.

Interiors and furniture were marbled from from the early 17th century to the late Victorian period. The craft was practiced by skilled decorators using a combination of brushes and sponges. Some of the finishes achieved were so realistic as to make it difficult to distinguish the marbled surface from the marble surface.

Marbling is also a term applied to a finish for paper as often seen in the front and endpapers of old books. The marbling is achieved by floating the colours on water and then transferring them to paper. However the marbling finish on paper, as with the marbling finish on plastics, with its multitude of colours has little resemblance to naturally occurring marble.

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historical documents - other 612

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