Historical information
Edward George Dyson was born on 4 March 1865 at Morrison, near the Ballarat goldfields, the son of a miner.
Dysons first collection of poetry, Rhymes from the Mines and Other Lines, was published in 1896 by Angus and Robertson.
A second poetry collection Hello, Soldier!: Khaki Verse was published in 1919.
Many of these verse were originally printed in the “Bulletin,” others in “Punch,” “The Leader” and Melbourne “Herald.”
The book we hold at the RSL is the original edition and is No. 146 in our museum collection.
Dyson contracted encephalitis in 1919 He died at his home in the Melbourne suburb of Elwood on 22 August 1931. Although a highly successful writer in his day, Dyson has since been overshadowed by contemporaries like Henry Lawson and A. B. Paterson , and also by the achievements of his brother Will Dyson , one of the leading political cartoonists of the early twentieth century.
Physical description
Hardback rectangular book. Khaki in colour.
Inscriptions & markings
"HELLO, SOLDIER!"on the front, with "HELLO,SOLDIER!" by Edward Dyson on the spine
