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"Each book, in a word, carries a history": The enduring values of First Fleet "association"

Abstract:
The First Fleet sailed from England on 13 May 1787, carrying more than 1,500 people. What books they read, owned or carried with them is a matter of great interest for the study of Early European settlement in ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥. This paper considers surviving books of First Fleet provenance and other prime Association ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥na — and asks: what value do we set on such books and why? Standing at the cross-roads of intellectual and financial values, the market for significant association copies has always been strong and steady. However, the high prices fetched in recent decades indicates changing views on what most influences a book’s value. Beyond rarity and condition, I argue, what A.W. Pollard described as the 'imaginative' appeal of such books—especially which stems from provenance—is much more powerful. To own such a book—to have and to hold an original object of iconic association ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥na — gives to the book a magnetism, or talismanic quality, that is altogether harder to define.

Bio:
Dr Sparks holds a PhD from the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Cambridge and a Masters of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) from the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Canberra. He first trained as a medieval historian, is a qualified libraries and archives professional, who has been working with manuscripts, rare books and special collections for the past 20 years or so. He is Team Leader, Archival Collections at the State Library of South ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ and a Visiting Research Fellow at the ÐÓ°ÉÖ±²¥ of Adelaide.