person or book cover
Courtesy of Allen & Unwin.
Issue Details: First known date: 2011... 2011 The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews : In Search of an Australian Anthropologist
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'The Many Worlds of R.H. Mathews is about the life and work of the renowned 19th century surveyor turned ethnologist, R. H. Mathews, whose studies of Aboriginal Australia were path-breaking and quite controversial. His childhood in Goulburn meant that he grew up with Aboriginal children as playmates, so when he began his obsession with documenting Aboriginal life, he came to his subject with fond familiarity, not the freakshow interest that spurred many of the English anthropologists of the time, especially Baldwin Spencer, who went out of his way to discredit Mathews' work, especially after his death.

'Largely due to this conspiracy, Mathews has been a reasonably unknown figure in early anthropology, but his legacy and work have been reassessed and he is emerging as one of our most important documentors of Aboriginal language, legends and mythology. So important, in fact, that it is his legacy of papers, interpretations and documents, held largely in the National Library of Australia, that is being used by contemporary Aboriginal people to rejuvenate their culture.

'Martin's approach to his subject is not conventional biography, but something more ambitious and unusual, and one perfectly tuned to the revelations it contains.' (From the publisher's website.)

Notes

  • Dedication: For my son Aaron

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2011 .
      person or book cover
      Courtesy of Allen & Unwin.
      Extent: 462p.
      Description: illus., maps, ports, geneal. tables
      Note/s:
      • Includes bibliographical references and index.
      • Publication date: March 2011.
      ISBN: 9781741757811 (hbk.)

Works about this Work

Observing the Observer Jane Lydon , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: History Australia , vol. 9 no. 1 2012; (p. 241-243)

— Review of The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews : In Search of an Australian Anthropologist Martin Thomas , 2011 single work biography
Anthropological Insights Marc McEvoy , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 20 May 2012; (p. 19)
Survey of Reviled Life Helps ANU Historian Nail Biography Award Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 May 2012; (p. 3)
Moral Message in Tale of a Magnificent Obsession Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15 May 2012; (p. 5)
Busy Week for Library Marc McEvoy , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 6 May 2012; (p. 19)
A Magnificient Obsession Stephen Saunders , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 9 April 2011; (p. 26)

— Review of The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews : In Search of an Australian Anthropologist Martin Thomas , 2011 single work biography
Off the Shelf : Biography Owen Richardson , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 9 April 2011; (p. 30)

— Review of The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews : In Search of an Australian Anthropologist Martin Thomas , 2011 single work biography
[Review Essay] The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews : In Search of an Australian Anthropologist Henry Reynolds , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Monthly , March no. 65 2011; (p. 64)

— Review of The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews : In Search of an Australian Anthropologist Martin Thomas , 2011 single work biography
Ethnomania : The Search for R. H. Mathews Melinda Hinkson , 2012 single work review
— Appears in: Arena Magazine , December 2011 - January 2012 no. 115 2012; (p. 50-51)

— Review of The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews : In Search of an Australian Anthropologist Martin Thomas , 2011 single work biography
Untitled Peter Sutton , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: Aboriginal History , November no. 35 2011; (p. 205-206)

— Review of The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews : In Search of an Australian Anthropologist Martin Thomas , 2011 single work biography
The Picks of the Crop Jo Case , Chris Flynn , Morag Fraser , David McCooey , Maria Tumarkin , 2011 single work column
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 6 August 2011; (p. 26-27)
The judges of the 2011 Age Book of the Year Awards comment on each of the fifteen shortlisted titles. Morag Fraser and Maria Tumarkin comment on the non-fiction titles, David McCooey on the poetry titles and Jo Case and Chris Flynn on the fiction titles.
Busy Week for Library Marc McEvoy , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 6 May 2012; (p. 19)
Moral Message in Tale of a Magnificent Obsession Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 15 May 2012; (p. 5)
Survey of Reviled Life Helps ANU Historian Nail Biography Award Susan Wyndham , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 15 May 2012; (p. 3)
Anthropological Insights Marc McEvoy , 2012 single work column
— Appears in: The Sun-Herald , 20 May 2012; (p. 19)
Last amended 15 Jan 2014 17:29:23
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