NSW Bookstall Company

NSW Bookstall Company was a Sydney company which operated a chain of newsagencies throughout New South Wales. It was notable as a publisher of inexpensive paperback books which were written, illustrated, published and printed in Australia, and sold to commuters at bookstalls in railway stations and elsewhere in New South Wales.

History

The company was founded as the Sydney Bookstall Company by Henry Lloyd (ca.1847 – 24 September 1897) of "Linden Hall", Annandale, New South Wales around 1880 as a newsagent. Its first foray into publishing may have been racebooks (form guides or programmes) for the Hawkesbury Race Club around 1886.[1]

A. C. Rowlandson (15 June 1865 – 15 June 1922) joined as a tram ticket seller in 1883 and built a strong interest in the business, which he bought from Henry Lloyd's widow. The greatest part of the company's business consisted of retailing local, interstate and overseas periodicals, postcards (Neville Cayley produced a series) and stationery from its eight city shops and fifty-odd railway stall outlets, but was important as one of Australia's most successful book publishers and retailers of locally produced paperback books.[2][3]

Considerable effort was put into the artwork of the paperbacks, both on their brightly colored covers and the illustrations within. Artists who contributed included J. Muir Auld, Percy Benison, L. H. Booth, Norman Carter, H. W. Cotton, John P. Davis, Ambrose Dyson, Will Dyson, Tom Ferry, A. J. Fisher, Harry Garlick, C. H. Hunt, Ben Jordan, Harry Julius, George W. Lambert, Fred Leist, Norman Lindsay, Lionel Lindsay Percy Lindsay, Ruby Lindsay, Vernon Lorimer, David Low, Hugh Maclean, Frank P. Mahony, Claude Marquet, R. H. Moppett, Charles Nuttall, G. C. Pearce, James Postlethwaite, L. L. Roush, James F. Scott, Sydney Ure Smith, D. H. Souter, Percy Spence, Martin Stainforth, Alf Vincent and Harry J. Weston.[4]

On Rowlandson's death, Reg. Wynn (ca.1866 – 17 December 1925) took over as managing director, and W. A. Crew was circulation manager. The company erected a large building at the corner of Market Street and Castlereagh Street.[4] Reg. Wynn was succeeded by Paul Dowling.

With the onset of World War II, imports of comic books was severely restricted, which opened the market, previously swamped by the U.S. and British houses, to anyone who could provide a quality product, and NSW Bookstall was ideally placed to publish and distribute such work. Tony Rafty, Will Donald, Tom Hubble, Noel Cook and Terry Powis were among the more successful artists, and the partnership of Brodie Mack and writer Peter Amos (real name Archie E. Martin) produced some excellent work for NSW Bookstall.[5] By 1949, the opportunity provided by wartime shortages no longer applied, and Australia was once again flooded with excess overseas production.

Titles

This list is representative of the range of Bookstall titles but not exhaustive.[4][6]

Sally: The Tale of a Currency Lass;[7]
The Sign of the Serpent
The Knight of the Motor Launch;
The New Chum & four other stories
  • Malcolm Afford: Owl of Darkness
  • F. Agar: Eros! Eros Wins!
  • Bob Allen: The Mare with the Silver Hoof
  • Gerald R. Baldwin: In Racing Silk;
Lydia's Lovers
  • Vera Barker: Equality Road;
When Satan Laughs
South Seas Shipmates;
Steve Brown's Bunyip
  • A. Bathgate: Sodger Sandy's Bairn[8]
  • Louis Becke: The Adventures of Louis Bleke;
Bully Hayes, Buccaneer
Billy Pagan, Mining Engineer;[8]
Silver Star
  • George W. Bell: The Little Giants of the East[9]
  • Francis E. Birtles (illus. by author): Lonely Lands
  • H. K. Bloxham: The Double Abduction;
On the Fringe of the Never Never
Tools of Satan
  • E. J. Brady: Tom Pagdin, Pirate
  • Hilda M. Bridges: The Squatters' Daughter;
The Lady of the Cavern
  • Roy Bridges: The Barb of an Arrow;[8]
By His Excellency's Command;
By Mountain Tracks;
Cards of Fortune;
The Fenceless Ranges;
Haunts of Fear;
On His Majesty's Service;[10]
Mr. Barrington;
Mystery of the Cliff;
The Stony Heights
  • John X. Cameron: The Spell of the Bush
  • R. J. Cassidy: Chandler of Corralinga
  • Charles Chauvel: Uncivilised[11]
  • E. F. Christie: The Calling Voice
  • George Cockerill: The Convict Pugilist
  • Dale Collins: Stolen or Strayed;
  • Arthur Crocker: The Dingo Pup;
The Great Turos Mystery;
South Sea Sinners
  • George Darrell: The Belle of the Bush[12]
  • Aiden de Bruno: The Carson Loan Mystery[13]
  • Don Delaney: The Captain of the Gang;
For Turon Gold;
Gentleman Jack;[14]
A Rebel of the Bush;
The White Champion
  • Will Donald: Heel Hitler[15]
  • Con Drew: The Doings of Dave;
Jinker;
Rogues and Ruses
Fact'ry 'Ands;
The Grey Goose Comedy Co.;
In the Roaring Fifties[16]
Loves of Lancelot;
The Missing Link;[17]
Spats' Factory;
Tommy the Hawker and Snifter his Boy
  • A. R. Falk: Puppets of Chance;
Red Star
White Savage Simon;[20]
Queen Vaiti
  • Kate Harriott: Invalid and Convalescent Cookery[21]
  • W. G. Henderson: The Bathers
  • Bert James: The Loser Pays;
The Mystery of the Boxing Contest[8]
  • A. E. Jobson: The Adventures of Russell Howard
  • Cecil Ross Johnston: The Trader
  • Robert Kaleski: Australian Barkers and Biters[10]
  • A. R. Kent: A Chinese Vengeance
  • Norman Lindsay: A Curate in Bohemia;[22]
Norman Lindsay's Book
The Dawsons' Uncle George;
Mum Dawson — Boss;
Skeeter Farm
  • H. R. McDuffie: Rooks and Crooks
  • Claude McKay and Harry Julius Theatrical Caricatures
  • John D. Fitzgerald: Greater Sydney and Greater Newcastle[23]
  • Jack McLaren: Feathers of Heaven;
Fringe of the Law;
The Oil Seekers;
Fagaloa's Daughter;
Red Mountain;[20]
The Savagery of Margaret Nestor;
The Skipper of The Roaring Meg;
Spear-Eye;
Sunlight, Adventure and Love;
Talifa
  • A. Ian Macleod: Hack's Brat
  • A. E. Martin: The Romance of Nomenclature,' (1943) containing 1,250 Place Names in South Australia, West Australia and the Northern Territory[24]
  • Clarence W. Martin: Ubique[8]
  • Harold Mercer: Amazon Island[25]
  • Edward Meryon: At Hollands' Tank;
One False Step;
Yellow Silver[19]
  • William Monckton: Three Years with Thunderbolt[16]
  • Jack North: The Black Opal;
Harry Dale's Grand National;
A Son of the Bush
Creatures of Impulse;
The Plantation Manager
The Shantykeeper's Daughter
  • Sydney Partrige: Rocky Section
  • Sydney Partrige and Cecil Raworth: The Mystery of Wall's Hill
  • S. W. Powell: The Closed Lagoon;
A Golden Chance;
The Great Jude Seal;
Hermit Island;
The Maker of Pearls;
A Mantle of Authority;
The Pearls of Cheong Tah;
The Trader of Kameko;
X-Mixture
The Golden Kangaroo;
The Outlaws of Weddin Range;
Three Years with Thunderbolt;
Wolaroi's Cup
  • Clement Pratt: Caloola
  • "Rata": The Coloured Conquest"[26]
  • Broda Reynolds: Dawn Asper;[20]
The Heart of the Bush;
The Selector Girl
  • Charles Rodda: Cerise and Gold;
The Fortunes of Geoffrey Mayne
  • Ivan Archer Rosenblum: Marjorie of Blue Lake;
Stella Sothern
The Book of Dan;
Dad in Politics;
The Dashwoods;
Duncan McClure;
For Life;
Grandpa's Selection;
Kayton's Selection;[28]
Memoirs of Corporal Keeley;
On an Australian Farm;
On Our Selection;
Our New Selection;
The Old Homestead;
The Poor Parson;
Sandy's Selection;
From Selection to City;
Stocking Our Selection
Mystery of Murrawang;
The Rheas of Werriwang;
The Squatter's Ward[30]
Budgeree Ballads;[31]
The Haunted Shanty;
How McDougall Topped the Score, and other Verses and Sketches;[32]
The Spring Cleaning;
The Surprising Adventures of Bridget McSweeney
That Droll Lady;
Why Doherty Died
Bill's Idées;
The Bulletin Book of Humorous Verses and Recitations
The Bulletin Reciter;
Gum Blossoms: A Volume of Australian Verse
  • Crystal Stirling: Soldiers Two
  • Ralph Stock: The Pyjama Man;
The Recipe for Rubber[33]
  • R. S. Tait: Scotty Mac, Shearer
  • Taylor: Campaign Cartoons[34]
  • Harry Tighe: The Man of Sympathy
  • Robert Waldron: The Flying Doctor;[35]
Pearl Shell[36]
  • J. M. Walsh: Goldie Law;
Tap Tap Island
  • Charles D. Websdale (J. Muir Auld ill.): Seafarers
  • Charles White: Ben Hall;
Captain Moonlite;
Gardiner, King of the Road;
John Vane, Bushranger;
The Kelly Gang;
Martin Cash;
Short-lived Bushrangers[8]
The Boy from Bullarah;
The Breed Holds Good;
A Close Call;
A Colt from the Country;
Fettered by Fate;
Gambler's Gold;
A Game of Chance;
A Good Recovery;
The Hate of a Hun;[37]
In the Last Stride;
Keane of Kalgoorlie;
A Rogue's Luck;
A Rough Passage;
The Outlaw's Daughter;[38]
Over the Odds;
Rung In;
A Sport from Hollowlog Flat;
The Squatter's Secret;
Under a Cloud;[12]
When Nuggets Glistened;
  • Claude P. Wynn: Princess Naldi's Fetish[39]
  • (none named): Australian Bungalow and Cottage Home Designs[40]
  • (none named): Canberra Cookery Book
  • (none named): Guide to the City of Sydney and the Pleasure Resorts of New South Wales[41]
  • (none named): The Harbour Guide
  • (none named): Panoramic Sydney[42]
  • (none named): Sydney from the Air

References
  1. "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. 26 December 1881. p. 1. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Australian-Made Books". The Sunday Times. Sydney. 3 April 1910. p. 3. Retrieved 1 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "The Bookstall Series". The Worker. Wagga, NSW. 9 September 1909. p. 21. Retrieved 1 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Australia's Greatest Publishing Business". The Sunday Times. Sydney. 2 November 1924. p. 4. Retrieved 1 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Ryan, John Panel by Panel : an illustrated history of Australian Comics Cassell Australia 1979 ISBN 0-7269-7376-9
  6. The Bookstall Series (N.S.W. Bookstall) - Book Series List, publishinghistory.com. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
  7. "Advertising". The Australian Worker. Sydney. 6 February 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "Advertising". The Catholic Press. Sydney. 22 July 1915. p. 23. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia. An attractive advertisement.
  9. "Colonel Bell's Book on Japan". The Sunday Times. Sydney. 10 September 1905. p. 5. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "New Books". The Singleton Argus. NSW. 30 May 1914. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "Book Reviews". The Truth. Sydney. 9 August 1936. p. 26. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. "Advertising". The Australian Worker. Sydney. 14 December 1916. p. 8. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. "From the Presses". The Newcastle Sun. NSW. 13 June 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. "Advertising". The World's News. Sydney. 2 January 1915. p. 26. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia. Illustrated advertisement
  15. "Heel Hitler!". The Australian Worker. Sydney. 22 January 1941. p. 7. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia. Donald was cartoonist for The Australian Worker
  16. "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 September 1906. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. "Review (By "Merrigang")". The Sydney Stock and Station Journal. 6 November 1908. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. "Untitled". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW. 7 October 1918. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. "Advertising". The Farmer & Settler. Sydney. 9 May 1919. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. "Advertising". The Catholic Press. Sydney. 19 June 1919. p. 23. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. "Publications Received". The National Advocate. Bathurst, NSW. 7 October 1912. p. 2. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  22. "A Curate in Bohemia". The Northern Star. Lismore, NSW. 26 October 1933. p. 9. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. "Greater Sydney and Greater Newcastle". The World's News. Sydney. 15 September 1906. p. 31. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. "The Aboriginal Name for Clare". The Northern Argus. Clare, SA. 19 May 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 10 February 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. "Publications Received". The Muswellbrook Chronicle. NSW. 19 May 1933. p. 6. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  26. "Colour-phobia". Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. NSW. 7 June 1905. p. 1406. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  27. "Advertising". The World's News. Sydney. 29 August 1914. p. 26. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  28. "From the Presses". The Newcastle Sun. NSW. 20 June 1927. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. "All About Books". The Singleton Argus. NSW. 2 July 1910. p. 6. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  30. "Advertising". The Farmer & Settler. Sydney. 28 March 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  31. "The Riberine Herald". Riverine Herald. Echuca, Vic. 10 December 1908. p. 2. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  32. "Recent Publications". The Sydney Wool and Stock Journal. 2 March 1906. p. 14. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  33. "The Recipe for Rubber (Ralph Stock)". The World's News. Sydney. 8 June 1912. p. 29. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  34. "Advertising". The Evening News. Sydney. 14 February 1900. p. 1. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia. One of NSW Bookstall's earliest publications
  35. "Reviews". The Kiama Independent and Shoalhaven Advertiser. NSW. 21 July 1934. p. 3. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  36. "Pearl Shell". Riverina Recorder. Balranald, Moulamein, NSW. 17 November 1934. p. 4. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  37. "A Wright Book". The Sunday Times. Sydney. 26 November 1916. p. 14. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  38. "Bobbies and Bushies — a Bookstaller". The Farmer & Settler. Sydney. 1 July 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  39. "A New Bookstall". The Freeman's Journal. Sydney. 15 September 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  40. "Advertising". The Sunday Times. Sydney. 9 June 1912. p. 24. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  41. "Reviews in Brief". The Sydney Mail. NSW. 9 November 1938. p. 35. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  42. "Publications Received". The Truth. Sydney. 28 July 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 15 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.

Further reading
  • Carol Mills, The New South Wales Bookstall Company as a Publisher, Canberra: Mulini Press, 1991.
  • Carol Mills, An Australian "Dime Novel" Publisher, Clayton, Victoria: Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand, 1992.
  • Carol Mills, "The Bookstall novel: an Australian paperback revolution 1904-1946", in: Australian Cultural History, no. 11, 1992, pp. 87–99. In special issue: Books, Readers, Reading based on a conference at the University of New South Wales, June 1991.
  • Martyn Lyons and John Arnold, eds., A History of the Book in Australia, 1891-1945, Brisbane: Queensland University Press, 2001.
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