lamdha books -
catalogue of books on the Blue Mountains

33759 Armitage, Audrey The Katoomba-Leura Story Rotary Club, Katoomba, 1998. New. Quarto hardcover in dustwrapper. Black and white plates. The history and personality of the two towns. Click here to order $34

12301 Baker, Margaret & Corringham, Robin Birds of the Blue Mountains Three Sisters Publications, 2002. Stapled paperback. New book. Colour plates. 56 species individually described with details on appearance, voice, breeding, identifying behaviour, food and distribution. Click here to order $12

12303 Baker, Margaret & Corringham, Robin Native Plants of the Blue Mountains Bower Bird/Three Sisters Publication, 2004. Paperback. New book. Colour plates. The major vegetation communities of the region: from the Eucalypt forests to the fragile plant assemblages of the cliff faces. Click here to order $20

60300 Barrett, Jim The First Bushwalker The Story of Fred Eden The author, 1995. Paperback, 90pp., b/w illustrations. New. Click here to order $15

42445 Barrett, Jim Kanangra Walls Discovery and History Neville Bush Holdings, Glenbrook, 2009. Paperback, 58pp., b/w illustrations. New. Click here to order $15

60301 Barrett, Jim The Kills of Kedumba The Story of a Blue Mountains Pioneering Family Neville Bush Holdings, Glenbrook, 2008. Paperback, 54pp., b/w illustrations. New. Including a short history of the Kedumba Valley. Click here to order $15

60299 Barrett, Jim Life in the Burragorang The author, 1995. Paperback, 122pp., b/w illustrations. New. Click here to order $15

57840 Barrett, Jim Narrow Neck and the Birth of Katoomba Author, 1996. Paperback, 64pp., b/w illustrations. New. Click here to order $15

60298 Barrett, Jim Place Names of the Blue Mountains and Burragorang Valley . . . from Aboriginal and Convict Origins Neville Bush Holdings, Glenbrook, 2009. Paperback, 106pp., b/w illustrations. New. Click here to order $15

42446 Barrett, Jim Shack Country . . . and The Old Burragorang Guntawang Catholic Youth Centres, Emu Plains, 2009. Paperback, 80pp., b/w illustrations. New. For some 150 years, from the 1820s to the 1950s, the Burragorang Valley lay in idyllic solitude, virtually on the outskirts of Sydney. Part One of this book is the story of 5 priests from Sydney who acquired Kiaramba, 174 acres on Scott's Main Range, in 1940 and who built a shack there as a retreat from their parochial duties. The flooding of the Burragorang as part of the Warragamba scheme seemed to spell the demise of Kiaramba, but the emergence of the Catholic Bushwalking Club gave it new life. And Part Two, is a nostalgic lookback on the Old Burragorang. Click here to order $15

61562 Barrett, Jim Through The Years with the Catholic Bushwalking Club Catholic Bushwalking Club, Strathfield, 2008. Quarto paperback, 114pp., b&w illustrations. New. Click here to order $15

42444 Barrett, Jim Yerranderie Story of a Ghost Town The author, 2005. Paperback, 72pp., b/w illustrations. New. Click here to order $15

35343 Brownscombe, Ross Blue Rivers A Narrative of Time in the Blue Mountains Forever Wild Press, Kingsdene, 1997. Paperback. New. The record of the author's solo raft trips down the five wild rivers of the Blue Mountains. Click here to order $15

10711 Brownscombe, Ross On Suspect Terrain Journals of Exploration in the Blue Mountains 1795-1820 Forever Wild Press, Brighton, 2004. New book. Small quarto paperback. A comprehensive study of early colonial exploration which includes the journals of all the explorers, such as Sir Joseph Banks' eccentric botanical collector George Caley and the French surveyor and map-maker Francis Barrallier, who first probed the sandstone ramparts of the Blue Mountains. Click here to order $50

9836 Cunningham, Chris The Blue Mountains Rediscovered Beyond the Myths of Early Australian Exploration Kangaroo Press, East Roseville, 1999. Paperback, 192pp., b&w illustrations and colour plates. Little spotting to upper page edges, very minor shelf wear. Very good to near fine. Click here to order $50

64512 Duncan, Keith The Duncans of 'Ballymore': signed The Recollections of Keith Duncan Self published, Megalong, 2003. Signed oblong quarto paperback, 88pp., b&w illustrations. Minor wear; small droplet stains on front cover, minor scuffing and edge and corner wear. Very good otherwise. Click here to order $18

57521 Duvollet, Mindah A Place Called Weatherboard Old Wentworth Falls Blue Mountains Historical Society, Wentworth Falls, 2001. New stapled paperback. Black and white plates. Click here to order $10

62068 Halliday, Alison & Hambrett, Joanne (photography: Ian Brown) A Passion for Place Gardens of the Blue Mountainns Bloomings Books, Melbourne, 2010. New. Quarto hardback, 242 pp. Colour plates. The cool-climate gardens of Mount Wilson, Mount Tomah and Mount Irvine, ranging from those mellowed by over a century of growing time, through the golden years between the wars, to those tackling the challenges of modern-day gardening. Click here to order $60

33876 Hampshire, Carole Artists Observed: signed copy Blue Mountains Artists Close Up. UNSW, Sydney, 2007. Quarto paperback. Colour plates. New. Sale price. Over a period of two years, photographer and writer Carole Hampshire met the sculptors, painters, photographers and potters of the Blue Mountains, some famous and others less so. The resultant book of interviews together with her portraits of the artists themselves, as well as photographs of their homes, studios and art works, is an insider's view of the creative process and the relationship between place and artist. Click here to order $35

66586 Hodge, Harry The Hill End Story: three volumes, one signed A History of the Hill End- Tambaroora Goldfield Self-Published, Adamstown Heights, 1965 - 1972. Volume 1 - Second Edition limited edition signed by the author, 1965. Hardcover, 192pp., b&w illustrations. Owner's name. Grey cloth boards with a few marks and stains and slightly frayed edges with slightly rolled binding; lightly browned and spotted page edges; Yellow and dark red illustrated dustwrapper with rubbed rear panel, worn edges and corners with tiny segments missing on spine extremities and corners. Very good and protected in mylar film with white paper backing. Volume 2- Limited first edition of 500, 1965. Hardcover, 176pp., b&w plates. Owner's name. Water damage and a few stains to grey boards with light wear to edges; light foxing to pastedowns and endpapers with page edges browned and spotted; black illustrated dustwrapper with waterstain and rubbing to rear panel; large missing segment across upper front edge and upper rear spinal corner; tarnishing and wear to edges; faded gilt titling on spine. Good and protected in myolar film with white paper backing. Volume 3 - Limited first edition of 1000, 1972. Hardcover, 211pp., b&w plates. Lightly rolled binding; a few marks on grey boards and light wear to edges; lightly toned page edges with scattered spotting; slightly discoloured white illustrated dustwrapper with some scuffing, edgewear and chipping. Very good and professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. In 1872 Hill End had 28 hotels in the town itself and 52 within a three-mile radius, not to mention a mile of shops. The population included 1,500 Chinese. Today all that remains is one shop and one hotel, and in Tambaroora - a solitary house. Here and there in both towns are traces of their past - a miniature ridge shows the line of a vanished garden fence; a mound is all that remains of a wattle-and-daub cottage chimney; a depression locates the cellar of a vanished hotel. This book records the story of Hill End and Tambaroora as they were when their streets were thronged with people who came from the ends of the earth in answer to the call of gold. Their lives, in an isolated area with a rigorous climate and few of the amenities of civilisation form part of the national development of the character of Australia. The first volume focuses on the people who lived there; the second on the mining and the claims which brought fame to the towns and the third of reminiscences and local folk lore associated with the place. Click here to order $200

58692 Horne, Julia The Pursuit of Wonder How Australia's Landscape was Explored, Nature Discovered and Tourism Unleashed. Miegunyah Press, Melbourne, 2005. Hardcover, square quarto, 351pp., colour & b&w illustrations. New. Remainder. Follows colonial tourists as they rolled up their sleeves, loosened their corsets, and set out in the pursuit of nature. The beginnings of environmental tourism together with the influence of European ideas of travel, nature and art on the perception of the Australian landscape. A chapter on the Blue Mountains and many other references. Click here to order $25

10968 Johnson, Dianne Sacred Waters The Story of the Blue Mountains Gully Traditional Owners. Halstead Press, Broadway, 2007. Hardcover, quarto, 237 pp. New book. Colour plates. The moving story of the Gundungurra people of the Burragorang Valley and the Darug people of the lower Hawkesbury, celebrating their survival in a changing world and their ongoing struggle to protect their sacred lands and waters. The emotions and impact of history are conveyed through the voices of those who lived through the loss of their traditional lands, and through their descendants. Their story can also be traced through the history of Sydney: from Governor Arthur Phillip's first meeting with the Gully people's direct ancestors at Pitt Town Bottoms in 1791, through to the diaspora of familiar surnames throughout Richmond, Blacktown and Parramatta. Click here to order $60

52848 Kala, Ilmar 'Mark' What's In a Name A Look at the Scientific Names of the Birds of the Blue Mountains. Blue Mountain Bird Observers, Springwood, 2008. Paperback, 85pp., b&w illustrations. New. Background and illustrative information on the Latin names. Click here to order $25

32487 Keats, Michael Day Walks in the Therabulat Country also known as the Wild Dog Mountains in the Greater Blue Mountains National Park The author, 2006. Paperback. New. Colour plates. The author has made particular cause with the region and here offers the fruits of his explorations: a guide to the walks, together with sections on the geology, flora and fauna, and history. Click here to order $30

38062 Keats, Michael & Fox, Brian The Passes of Narrow Neck Keats, Pymble, nd. (2008). New, paperback, colour illustrations, 126pp. The authors engaged in a series of walks to find, identify and record all the passes, each with its own challenges, each with its own beauty. Click here to order $28

56885 Keats, Michael and Fox, Brian The Upper Grose Valley Bushwalkers Business The author, 2010. New. Paperback. 567pp. Colour plates. An 'off the beaten track' guide. Click here to order $47

65915 Langdon, Mark Conquering the Blue Mountains Eveleigh Press, Matraville, 2006. Quarto hardback, 147 pp., black and white plates, foldout map, illustrated boards. Very minor wear to wrapper; else fine. The first railway in New South Wales was opened in September 1855 between Sydney and Parrammatta with the intention that it would be extended to Goulburn in the south and across the Blue Mountains to Bathurst in the west. The mountains had seemed an impenetrable barrier and initial reactions were that the building of a line was impractible. Surveys however identified a suitable route and in 1863 work commenced. The author documents the planning and construction, the many difficulties encountered and the innovative solutions effected. The book includes many photographs of trains, locations and the personalities involved. Click here to order $50

10575 Liddle, David (Margaret Baker, introduction). Blue Mountains Wilderness Megalong, Leura, 1987. Hardback, square quarto. 132pp., colour illustrations. Lightly toned page edges. Lower board edges and corners quite worn. Random spotting. Slightly worn dustwrapper. Very good. Liddle has long watched and wandered the tracks and byways of the mountains and has gathered, in the process, a master collection of photographs of this singular environment. The images are accompanied by quotations from early visitors, explorers and mountain dwellers. Click here to order $35

56604 Lord, S. and Daniel, G. (eds.) Bushwalks in the Sydney Region: Volume 1, edition 6 National Parks Association of NSW, 2007. New. Paperback. Maps. Includes a number of walks in the Blue Mountains National Park. Click here to order $27

56605 Lord, S. and Daniel, G. (eds) Bushwalks in the Sydney Region, volume 2, edition 4 National Parks Association of NSW, 2006. Paperback. New. Maps. Includes a number of walks in the Blue Mountains and Kanangra Boyd National Parks. Click here to order $27

10592 Macqueen, Andy Back from the Brink: second edition Blue Gum Forest and the Grose Wilderness The author, 1997. Quarto paperback. New. Black and white photographs. The forest stands as the Cradle of Conservation in New South Wales. This is its story from when it was first reserved in 1875 as a national spectacle, the threats to its existence and those who have preserved and been part of it. Click here to order $40

60032 Macqueen, Andy Frederick Robert D'Arcy colonial surveyor, explorer and artist, c1809-1875 The author, Wentworth Falls, 2010. New. Hardback. Illustrated boards. 265 pp. + index. Colour and b&w plates. Click here to order $45

11199 Macqueen, Andy Somewhat Perilous The journeys of Singleton, Parr, Howe, Myles & Blaxland in the Northern Blue Mountains Andy Macqueen, Wentworth Falls, 2004. Signed new book. Quarto paperback. Black and white plates. From 1817 to 1824 European explorers struggled to find ways from Windsor to the Hunter Valley. A full transcript of these explorers' journals and letters is included. Click here to order $30

65296 Plaidy, Jean Beyond the Blue Mountains Pan Books, London, 1973. Paperback. Foxing, spotted page edges, light creasing to spine. Good. The adventures of the bold and reckless Carolan transported to Australia and who, as a convict maid-servant seeking freedom and status, chooses to ensure her future in a way which will haunt her for the rest of her life... Click here to order $10

33870 Powell, Greg Pathways to History Exploring the Blue Mountains. MacStyle Media, Sandringham, 1995. Paperback. New. The many different routes used by the early explorers in attempts to find a crossing are described. The directions are augmented by photographs and sketches. Click here to order $16

42671 The Scenic Railway and the Mountain Devil The Steepest Incline Railway in the World Publishing details not given. Stapled booklet. Owner's name, some light stains and foxing to pages, few tears, fading, stains to covers. Good. Short text accompanied by eight photographs, four coloured. Remarkable presentation. Click here to order $60

65414 Shaw, Mary Historic Megalong Valley Mission Publications, Lawson, 2008. Paperback, 130pp., b&w illustrations. New. Click here to order $20

42751 Smith, Jim Lindeman Pass: The Blue Mountains Mystery Track Three Sisters, Winmalee, 1990. Small quarto paperback. New. Black and white plates. Author's remaining copies. Between 1909 and 1911 a 6 km walking track was built at the base of the cliffs between Wentworth Falls and Leura. It was never opened and long lay neglected. The book tells the story of its rediscovery and restoration. Click here to order $5.50

14206 Speirs, Hugh Landscape Art and the Blue Mountains: signed copy The Artistic, Historical, and Environmental Influences upon the Landscape Art of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia; with An Introduction to the Ways in which Nature and Art may be linked in Painting Alternative Publishing Co-operative, Sydney, 1981. Quarto, 203 pp., b/w and colour illustrations. Very minor wear only; near fine in like dustwrapper, professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film. As well as the geology and history of the Blue Mountains themselves, Speirs' book looks at the peculiar influence exerted by the ancient labyrinth of eroded valleys and vertical cliffs upon the art of the many Australian landscape artists who have worked in the area - particularly as a result of Man's changing attitudes to 'The Mountains' but also as a result of changing artistic influences. Click here to order $65

9934 Spiers, Hugh Landscape Art and the Blue Mountains: signed copy The Artistic, Historical, and Environmental Influences upon the Landscape Art of the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, Australia; with An Introduction to the Ways in which Nature and Art may be linked in Painting Alternative Publishing Co-operative, Sydney, 1981. Quarto, 203 pp. Spotting to upper page edges; else near fine in like dustwrapper. Black and white and colour reproductions. Click here to order $75

10712 Stacker, Lorraine Pictorial History: Penrith & St Marys Kingsclear, Sydney, 2002. New book. Oblong paperback. Black and white plates. Early photographs of the environs, historical buildings and personages. Click here to order $25

12247 Stickley, Christine The Old Charm of Penrith Christine Stickley, Penrith, 1984. Quarto hardback. Owner's name, minor wear; very good in moderately worn dustwrapper (professionally protected by superior non-adhesive polypropylene film), a few small tears. Colour and black and white plates. A commemoration of the many important buildings in the township, some of which have fallen victim to the bulldozer, others of which linger on. Click here to order $35

63186 Stickley, Christine The Old Charm of Penrith Christine Stickley, Penrith, 1984. Quarto hardback, 85pp., with colour photographs. Ex-library reprint with a small amount of stamps and tape markings. Signed by author. Very good copy in like dustwrapper. A commemoration of the many important buildings in the township, some of which have fallen victim to the bulldozer, others of which linger on. Click here to order $35

42132 Stockton, Eugene & Merriman, John (eds.) Blue Mountains Dreaming The Aboriginal Heritage. Blue Mountains Education & Research Trust, Lawson, 2009. Quarto paperback. New. Colour and black and white plates. In 1788 the Aborigines of the Blue Mountains had had no contact with Europeans: within 30 years their traditional way of life had been irrevocably changed. Of the generations of new Mountains dwellers who followed, few appreciated the Aboriginal heritage of the region, even though evidence of their presence was known from the Nepean River and the adjacent escarpment. Increasingly however, widespread discoveries of art sites, occupation sites, stone tools, axe-grinding grooves and stone arrangements, research into the journals and early writings of European explorers and settlers, and the compilation of oral histories, are providing a rich, if incomplete, account of the traditional lifestyles and environment of the Gundungurra and Darug people. This new edition gathers together new research and information about the original inhabitants of the Blue Mountains. It provides a fascinating account of histories, languages, legends and European contact. Click here to order $60

56419 Stuart, Veechi Blue Mountains Best Bushwalks: 2nd edition Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, 2009. New book. Over 150 colour plates and maps. Graded walks with detailed directions. Information about Blue Mountains history and environment. Click here to order $30

42628 Taylor, G. J. Newnes History of a Blue Mountains Oil-Shale Town. The author, nd. Quarto stapled paperback. New. Black and white photographs and maps. A history of the one time unique village and industrial complex which existed at Newnes from 1906 until 1940. Click here to order $13

42627 Taylor, G.J. The Glen Davis Story History of the Capertree Valley Shale Oil Project. The author, nd. Quarto stapled paperback. New. Black and white photographs. When the industrial site at Newnes was closed, much of the plant of equipment was transferred to the neighbouring Capertee Valley where, following the war years, a similar decline lead to the abandonment of the project. Click here to order $14

41388 Thomas, Martin The Artificial Horizon Imagining the Blue Mountains. Melbourne University, 2004. Small quarto paperback. New. Colour and black and white plates. Exploring the myths that form the meanings of the Blue Mountains, Thomas' book takes the reader on a journey through culture, landscape and mythology to probe the 'dreamwork of imperialism'. For both Aboriginal people and their colonisers, the rugged and dramatic landscape of the Mountains has stood as an intriguing riddle and a stimulus to the imagination. Click here to order $24

10973 Wiley, Rebecca Rebecca Wiley's Visit to Norman Lindsay at Springwood, May 1918 Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1986. Hardcover quarto, 130 pp. Illustrated with reproductions, photos. Laminate lifting slightly at lower corner of rear panel of dustjacket, little wear to edges; else fine. In 1918, Rebecca Wiley was sent by her employer, publisher George Robertson, to visit Norman Lindsay at his home at Springwood in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. On her return she excitedly described her observations and the conversations she had had with Lindsay. This is her account of the visit. Rediscovered after nearly seventy years and now published for the first time, this work gives a fascinating glimpse into the life of one of the most extraordinary and controversial figures in Australian art and literature. Click here to order $35