Cirrus@Austlit

Ferdinand Francois Bailliere came to Australia in 1860, with a commission to purchase books on Australian exploration and history for the British Museum. He established himself as a bookseller in Collins Street, Melbourne. He began publishing in 1862, and in all published more than fifty-five works. Besides bookselling and publishing, Bailliere had an interest in medical matters: he sold medical instruments in his shop, issued the journal Medical & Surgical Review (Australasia) 1863-71, and published at least ten works by the controversial doctor James George Beaney. Bailliere and Beaney fell out and Bailliere sued Beaney in 1880 for money owed to him. Bailliere lost the case, and his business became insolvent. Bailliere was killed on 30 August 1881 in a train accident.