THE BEST OF IDRIESS. 8 Vols Cattle King\Desert Column\Drums of Mer\Flynn of the Inland\Forty Fathoms Deep\Lasseter's Last Ride\Lightning Ridge\Red Chief

Penrith: The Discovery Press, 1973. Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. Brown leatherette with gilt decorated boards and red ribbon markers. The head and tail of the spine strip as well as the edge is peeling on "The Red Chief" , "The Cattle King" and "Flynn of the Inland", else a very good set. "Ion Llewellyn Idriess OBE (20 September 1889 - 6 June 1979) was a prolific and influential Australian author. He wrote more than 50 books over 43 years between 1927 and 1969 - an average of one book every 10 months, and twice published three books in one year (1932 and 1940). His first book was Madman's Island, published in 1927 at the age of 38, and his last was written at the age of 79. Called Challenge of the North, it told of Idriess's ideas for developing the north of Australia....In 1928 Idriess settled in Sydney where he wrote as a freelance writer. His writing style drew on his experiences as a soldier, prospector, and bushman. He wrote on a multitude of topics, including travel, recollection, biography, history, anthropology and his own ideas on possible future events. His books were generally non-fiction, but written in a narrative, story style. Most of his books were published by Angus & Robertson. Idriess wrote from real life experiences using knowledge he had personally gained by travelling extensively and working at a variety of occupations. "Idriess was no stylist, but his writing was immediate, colourful, well paced and, despite the speed at which it was written, always well structured." Although he generally wrote under his name, some early articles for The Bulletin were written under the pseudonym of "Gouger". When travelling, Idriess was known as "Jack" (Wikipedia)