Diary of a New Chum

Melbourne, Australia: Book Lovers' Library, 1908. 1st Edition 1st Impression. Soft cover. Very Good. 12mo - over 6¾ - 7¾" tall. First edition, first impression. In colour illustrated card wrappers with yapped edges; text block edges have an unusual diagonal textured trim. 12mo. Yapped edges are rubbed and chipped with several short closed tears, covers generally a little worn, some small marks. Internally the pages are a little toned, but not brittled, and the gutter on the half title slightly strained, else neat, clean, bright and tight. Paul Warrego was the pen name of Paul Wenz. Wenz, born in Rheims, France in 1869, to an affluent merchant family; but the world of European Business didn't suit and he left Europe for Australia in the mid 1890s, settling in New South Wales. His writing career, often revealing of the bushlife he adopted, began in 1900 with the publication of short stories written in French but set in Australia. This novella, published in 1908, was his only work written in English and preceded his first novel The Sundowner, which was published in Paris in 1923. It draws on his experiences of Station work and as a jackeroo. His early work tend to show him as an amused apologist for Australia but his more mature works show a more matter of fact Australian identity and in the 1920s and 1930s he began more heavily involved in the Australian literary scene, working with and befriending the likes of Miles Franklin, Dorothea Mackeller and Frank Clune, becoming an overpowering presence. This works are revealing of the Australia and the Australian way of life in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A very hard to find title.