Walter Murdoch and Alfred Deakin on Books and Men: Letters and Comments 1900-1918, edited by J A La Nauze and Elizabeth Nurser

Book Description

Secondhand. Good condition. Ex library copy with no external stickers. Remnant of borrower card pocket and date due slip on front endpage. Stamps on imprint page. Minor wear to book corners and edges. Dust jacket has light creasing at edges and spine. Dust jacket is now enclosed in a glossy protective cover. Body text and binding are still very good.

In Melbourne in the early part of the 20th century, Walter Murdoch was a young university lecturer in English. Among the appreciative readers of his literary articles in the Argus was Alfred Deakin, several times prime minister of Australia. When they met, they found at once that they had in common a great and active love of both English and French literature. They soon shared, in talks and letters, their knowledge of old and new books.

Deakin's side of their correspondence was recovered only after Murdoch's death in 1970. The letters show a professional student of literature struggling to keep pace with the extraordinarily wide reading of a politician and a busy prime minister, who is quick to encourage and praise the writings of a friend working in a field he regards with humility.

Books and Men, recalling the literary atmosphere of Edwardian Melbourne, is a contribution to the biographies of 2 men who are remembered in Australian political and cultural history.