During his long creative life Norman Lindsay produced works in many media, but pencil was the only one he used continuously from childhood to old age. If, as is often said, it is drawing which best demonstrates the strength of any artist, then the collection of 280 pencil drawing sin this book provides a unique opportunity to assess the man and his methods.
The earliest drawing reproduced in this book was done in 1889, when he was ten years old; the latest, in 1968, the year before he died at the age of ninety. Thus these drawings, spanning nearly eighty years of creative development, enable the reader to trace the evolution of Lindsay's style throughout his life. The drawings, only ten of which have previously been published, have been carefully selected to demonstrate both Lindsay's draughtsmanship and the range of his subject matter. There are pages from his voluminous sketchbooks in which he recorded details of subjects from animals to armour; preliminary sketches for what later became major works in oils, watercolour and pen; minutely detailed drawings for etchings; rough sketches showing his notes for colour plans; and pencil portraits which are works of art in their own right. Most of the drawings, however, are from the model, both male and female. His drawings of figures convey the spirit as well as the likeness of the model and have in common with his other pencil works great vitality and spontaneity.
The text complements the drawings, weaving into the book excerpts from Norman Lindsay's life and providing insights into his relationships with his family, friends and models. There are, as well many comments from Lindsay's own writings and from his artistically-gifted family and contemporaries — on his techniques, his artistic philosophy and the imagery used in many of his drawings — which help to illuminate the work of this extraordinary Australian artist.

This book was dedicated to his brother Reg who was killed on the Somme during World War I.

Constable & Co, publishers of fine limited editions, were aware of Norman's etchings as early as 1922 when they were the London publishers for Art in Australia. In 1925 they had further evidence of the quality of the work when Norman held an exhibition at London's Leicester Galleries where the etchings were very popular. The Etchings of Norman Lindsay is a handsome volume with each plate presented full page, with a cover page indicating the plate number, title and date. Norman was delighted with the quality of the reproductions. In 1928 he wrote to Andrew Watt, one of Rose's private clients:
I'm glad you liked the Constable production of the etchings. It really is as facsimile perfect as reproduction can be.
Although Norman referred to the reproductions as 'facsimile perfect' he was comparing them with contemporary printing. They are not true facsimile reproductions. They are, however, far superior to the reproductions in the 1973 Angus & Robertson publication Norman Lindsay: Two Hundred Etchings.
For many years, books illustrated by Norman have been broken up for the illustrations, which has had the effect of making the original book even more rare. In 1938 Gill's Fine Art Society's Gallery in Melbourne held 'An Exhibition of Reproductions of Etchings by Norman Lindsay'. According to the catalogue:
This exhibition comprises a series of reproductions of Norman Lindsay's original etchings, comprising a number of his greatest creative works. The prints have been arranged and shown in chronological order, and the whole of the plates have been printed by the Collotype Process in the finest manner possible by the Cheswick Press, England.
Mounted individual plates from the book were sold for 21 shillings each, a handsome profit for the vendor. As this was not the only instance of the book being destroyed for sale, The Etchings of Norman Lindsay has become the rarest of any of Norman's books.
There are 45 reproductions of Norman's etchings in alphabetical order and the book contains a chronological list of the 84 published etchings from 1918 to early 1925. Several etchings published late in 1925 and some done during the 1918–1925 period were not put on the market until later and are therefore not listed.

There are one hundred of Norman Lindsay's etchings reproduced in this volume.

First novel published.

Micomicana ... a series of cheerful, bawdy short stories, placed in a fantasy cotnry valled Pattipanonia, the dukedom of the Duke of Fanfrolico, the capital of which is the town of Catchcrumpet.

Micomicana was published on 22 February 1979 to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Norman Lindsay. This superb edition presents a hitherto unpublished series of Lindsay's most robust and delightful stories, togeher with over two hundred of the finest pen drawings tha this remarkable artist ever made. Every copy has been signed personnally by Norman Lindsay's daughter Jane, who is the author of the engaging and informative Introduction.
The Story of Micomicana from the Introduction by Jane Lindsay
The first publication of Micomicana, ten years after my father's death, seems a fitting way to celebrate his centenary. This book with its exuberance, humour and spirit of eternal youth seems to me the quintessence of Norman Lindsay. It is certainly as I remember him.
He began writing the stories in the 1920s, and in 1952 he wrote:
I've finally manager to complete a work which I started about thirty years ago.
As a child I became acquainted with the Dukedom of Pattipanonia through an etching Norman did of a map of all the places in the stories. (This map now forms the endpapers of the book.) The pen drawings I can remember well from my childhood ...
As he was rewriting and retyping the stories, he read them to me with great gusto and enjoyment, particularly relishing his own inventiveness in the absurd-sounding names of his characters.
When each story was typed and complete it was set into a large scrap book ... It was fascinating to watch the illustrations grow under his sure, precise and seemingly effortless pen. Sometimes he talked as he worked, and I listened and watched with admiration. My interest in the project was intensified by his promise to give me the finished 'scrap book', and mounting the typescript and drawings became a joint and absorbing project ... Some of the typed sheets had blank spaces carefully ruled into them for the later addition of small drawings, and Norman did a neat job typing around them. The resulting tome he bound in leather and carefully inscribed its name on the cover — a complete and satisfying job. All this was a night-time pursuit in the studio, belonging as it did to the category of 'larks' ... Watching the book grow was an unforgettable experience, apart from being a lark for both of us.
Published posthumously.

Norman Lindsay kept a small, warm corner of his long artistic life for his cats. He not only collected and kept a horde of them in the stables and sheds, the gardens, bush and architectural nooks of Springwood — allowing the occasional prince to share the master's studio — but he drew them with delightful observation and humour.
While The Magic Pudding made Lindsay's koalas famous, this other small anabranch of his art meandered on with little public scrutiny amid the controversy, furore and celebration his paintings and pen drawings excited.
Some of the collection presented here were done with quick delight over the behaviour of one of his Springwood friends, a few as cartoons for The Lone Hand or the Bulletin, and as Christmas cards or jokes. They all express the pleasure and amusement his cats gave him and are a perfect vehicle for the Lindsay line and wit.
His long term friend, the poet and author Douglas Stewart, introduces the drawings with an entertaining and affectionate memoir of Lindsay and his cats, and Lindsay accompanies them with his own survey of his feline companions at Springwood.

Constable & Co, publishers of fine limited editions, were aware of Norman's etchings as early as 1922 when they were the London publishers for Art in Australia. In 1925 they had further evidence of the quality of the work when Norman held an exhibition at London's Leicester Galleries where the etchings were very popular. The Etchings of Norman Lindsay is a handsome volume with each plate presented full page, with a cover page indicating the plate number, title and date. Norman was delighted with the quality of the reproductions. In 1928 he wrote to Andrew Watt, one of Rose's private clients:
I'm glad you liked the Constable production of the etchings. It really is as facsimile perfect as reproduction can be.
Although Norman referred to the reproductions as 'facsimile perfect' he was comparing them with contemporary printing. They are not true facsimile reproductions. They are, however, far superior to the reproductions in the 1973 Angus & Robertson publication Norman Lindsay: Two Hundred Etchings.
For many years, books illustrated by Norman have been broken up for the illustrations, which has had the effect of making the original book even more rare. In 1938 Gill's Fine Art Society's Gallery in Melbourne held 'An Exhibition of Reproductions of Etchings by Norman Lindsay'. According to the catalogue:
This exhibition comprises a series of reproductions of Norman Lindsay's original etchings, comprising a number of his greatest creative works. The prints have been arranged and shown in chronological order, and the whole of the plates have been printed by the Collotype Process in the finest manner possible by the Cheswick Press, England.
Mounted individual plates from the book were sold for 21 shillings each, a handsome profit for the vendor. As this was not the only instance of the book being destroyed for sale, The Etchings of Norman Lindsay has become the rarest of any of Norman's books.
There are 45 reproductions of Norman's etchings in alphabetical order and the book contains a chronological list of the 84 published etchings from 1918 to early 1925. Several etchings published late in 1925 and some done during the 1918–1925 period were not put on the market until later and are therefore not listed.

Post-War World Trade — How will Australia Choose? Isolation, depression and war or co-operation, prosperity and peace? This booklet contains the full text of a statement presented to the Commonwealth Tariff Board by the Australian Association of British Manufacturers of which the author is the Director.
The collapse of Great Britain and the Empire has been loudly prophesied for centuries — but John Bull refuses to oblige. The end of every fight finds him still on his feet, with his family beside him. How does he do it? How is it that this nation, declared effete, worn-out, strangled by conservatism, still emerges fighting from one crisis after another?
In this book an Australian gives us the answers. He turns the searching light of commonsense on much of the muddled criticism of Britain that is heard today. He explodes the myth of grasping Imperialism, and makes clear the sane and solid foundations of the British Commonwealth. He explains the differences between John Bull and Uncle Sam —- and their essential and indestructible brotherhood. He exposes the absurdity of the notion that a friend of Russia should be an enemy of Britain, and shows just where Communism fits into the picture. Above all, he tells us the deathless story of how Britain won through against incredible odds in the early years of this war.
This is a book that every good Australian will welcome. We have long felt that the Mother Country has not been receiving her just due of the praise and publicity with which our allies are so well served. Every fair-minded ally, too, will be glad to see John Bull receiving the credit so hardly and bravely won. more than this, John Bull Gets Tough will be a valuable guide to those many thanking men and women who are striving to understand the errors of the past and plan for a better and saner future.

People said he was a genius ... But genius is hard to recognise at close quarters. We had grown up with him operating like a one-man picture factory in the studio across the garden.
Jane Lindsay

Jane Lindsay writes about her father, Norman Lindsay, with affection, gusto and exasperation. Whether the artist is darting from house to studio, rigging up a fairy to dance for his children over the lawn, jousting with the censorship enforcers or fleeing from parties and visitors, his daughter portrays him with down-to earth honesty, a high sense of comedy and an underlying faith in the arts that is characteristic of the writings of this illustrious family.
The book is illustrated with some revealing family photographs and a selection of Norman Lindsay's delightful and always unforgettable drawings.Portrait of Pa is an intimate portrait of Norman Lindsay and his wife Rose Lindsay such as only a member of the family could have painted, and captures the spirit of this great Australian artist and writer and the times in which he lived.

People said he was a genius ... But genius is hard to recognise at close quarters. We had grown up with him operating like a one-man picture factory in the studio across the garden.
Jane Lindsay

Portrait of Pa is an insider's account of Norman Lindsay and his wife rose which captures the spirit of this great Australian artist and writer and his times.
Jane Lindsay writes about her famous father, Norman Lindsay, with affection, gusto and exasperation. Whether the artist is darting from house to studio, rigging up a fairy to dance for his children over the lawn, jousting with the censorship enforcers or fleeing from parties and visitors, his daughter portrays him with down-to earth honesty, a high sense of comedy and an underlying faith in the arts that has characterised the illustrious Lindsay family.
This classic memoir of a most unusual father is charmingly illustrated with revealing family photographs and a selection of Norman Lindsay's delightful drawings.

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.
'Write it down', Robertson must have told her. 'Put it on paper and we'll keep a record of it.' And as if to give Rebecca's account official approval, Robertson wrote a preface, had the manuscript bound, and filed it in Angus & Robertson's archives.
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.
Today thousands of visitors each year are attracted to the National Trust Norman Lindsay Art Gallery and Museum, where they marvel at the statuary, ship models, paintings, books and etchings on display. Although at the time of Rebecca's visit the full range of Lindsay's talents was not yet apparent, his reputation as a black-and-=white artist was firmly established. The cartoons he drew regularly for the Bulletin had made his name a household word, he was working on posters for the arm's recruiting campaign, and later in the year was to publish The Magic Pudding, a classic that has remained in print ever since.
The conversations recorded by Rebecca reveal an analytical and strongly opinionated man, firmly convinced of his own superiority. Christianity was dismissed, the English class system deplored, the works of Dickens lauded, and judgements swiftly passed on Henry Lawson, Hugh McCrae, C J Dennis and Dame Nellie Melba among many others.
Rebecca Wiley's lively text is here enhanced with 90 black and white and colour photographs and background information on the people, places and literary and artistic works mentioned in her original manuscript.