Hard cover book, The Crooked Stick Or Pollie's Probation Author: Pen Name Rolf Boldrewood For (Thomas Alexander Browne) Publisher: Macmillan And Co Printer: Robert Clark Date: 1895 Blue cloth hardcover and spine with spine lettering in gilt. The label on the spine has a Library Label.fictionThe Crooked Stick; or, Pollie's Probation is another of Rolf Boldrewood's lesser-known, late-Victorian novels. Published by Macmillan & Co. in 1895, it takes a sharp departure from his typical bushranger action, operating instead as a domestic social drama set against the backdrop of colonial pastoral life. The title is derived from an old folk proverb: "Go through the wood and through the wood, and take a crooked stick at last." It serves as a warning against being too selective in choosing a spouse, only to end up with a poor match out of desperation. The story centres on Pollie Devereux, a beautiful, high-spirited, and wealthy young woman living on Corindgerie, a prosperous Australian sheep station. Following her father's death, she is left under the guardianship of her sensible cousin, Tom Devereux. Tom is deeply in love with Pollie and represents stability, safety, and a traditional life on the land. Pollie, however, craves the romance, glamour, and sophistication she associates with Europe. Enter Bertram Devereux, an English cousin who arrives from the UK. He is polished, charming, and highly cynical—a classic Victorian "dandy". Pollie is infatuated, and the core of the book follows her "probation", a period of emotional maturity where she must learn to distinguish between superficial English charm and rugged, genuine Australian worth.flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, book, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, the crooked stick or pollie's probation, rolf bolderwood

War to The Knife Author: Pen Name Rolf Boldrewood For (Thomas Alexander Browne) Publisher: Macmillan And Co Printer: Robert Clark Date: 1899 Blue cloth hardcover and spine with spine lettering in gilt. The spine has a Library label with inscription.fictionWar to the Knife; or, Tangata Maori is a late 19th-century historical romance novel written by the prominent Australian author Rolf Boldrewood (the pen name of Thomas Alexander Browne) and published by the historic house Macmillan & Co. in 1899. Unlike most of Boldrewood's work, which is rooted deeply in the Australian outback, War to the Knife shifts its setting to New Zealand during the Waikato War of the 1860s, which was part of the New Zealand Land Wars. The story follows Sir Roland Massinger, a cultured English squire who suffers a devastating heartbreak at home when the woman he loves, Hypatia Tollemache, rejects him to pursue a life dedicated to social reform. Distraught, Sir Roland leaves his ancestral estate and emigrates to New Zealand in search of adventure and a fresh start. Upon arriving, he finds himself caught squarely in the middle of the violent clash between the Pakeha (British colonial settlers) and the indigenous Maori tribes over the ownership of the Waitara land block. Written in a late-Victorian style that heavily blends high-stakes adventure with a romanticised "frontier" view, the book attempts to explore colonial identity and the cultural friction of the era. flagstaff hill, warrnambool, shipwrecked coast, flagstaff hill maritime museum, maritime museum, shipwreck coast, flagstaff hill maritime village, great ocean road, book, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, war to the knife, rolf bolderwood