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Articles on this Sale

Auction House:Leski Auctions Pty. Ltd.Number of lots recorded:1,250
Sale Title:Australian & HistoricalLots with images:1,232
Auction Location:MelbournePrices available:1,148
Date:25-May-2024
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Schulim Krimper, attributed vintage Australian blackbean sideboard on brass legs, mid 20th century, 92 cm high, 230 cm wide, 43 cm deep
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Australian huon pine double bay open bookcase with fully adjustable shelves, flanking pilasters, moulded top, conforming plinth base and bun feet, 20th century, 107 cm high, 184 cm wide, 38.5 cm deep
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John Monash's autograph album, burgundy leather binding with gilt rules,  overall 19 x 13.5 cm, with hundreds of tipped-in or written signatures, many with additional greetings or messages in the hand of the signatory. A loose-leaf typed index dated 27/4/31 is inserted at the front and in the majority of cases, Monash has added details, titles, etc. In pencil. A truly remarkable personal record of the great men and women of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
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'John Monash' undated signature to the title page of 'The Planetary and Stellar Worlds...' by O.M. Mitchel and James Glaisher, [London : James blackwood & Co.,] 240pp + adverts., endorsed to blank front end paper 'A new exploration for Johnny. Melbourne 27 June 1878.' Although in rather dilapidated condition, a gift received by John Monash on the occasion of his barmitzvah - his thirteenth birthday - at East Melbourne Synagogue.
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John Monash's first prize for Mathematics at Scotch College, 1880: Adam Smith, 'An Inquiry into the nature and causes of the wealth of Nations', [London : Ward, lock, & Co., 782pp; green leather binding with gilt; Scotch College Melbourne emblem to front cover. With 16th December, 1880 Scotch College first prize label affixed to inside front cover: 'Mathematics, sixth Class, awarded to J. Monash'
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A seven-page typed letter from Monash to his Daughter, Bertha: dated 6th July 1906. Bertha, thirteen years old, is to embark on a train journey and her father has written an extensive letter with much detail where she will be, when and with whom: '6.45am You will leave Spencer Street while it is still quite dark, but it is fortunate that the first 20 miles of your journey are very uninteresting.- at 7.30, when you look out to the East, you will be able to watch the sun...
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A two-page typed letter from John Monash to his daughter, Bertha, dated July 23rd 1906. 'Dear Bert', he writes, 'I am just sending you a few lines so that you May have a definite guide as to what to do on your return journey.....About 9.30 or 10 it will be time to go to the railway station at swan hill with Capt. Cantwell and ask him to make you snug in a first class corridor ladies compartment...', 'You get to Bendigo at 6.10pm, and you will no doubt find me on the Bendigo platform waiting...
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'John Monash' undated signature to blank front end paper of 'Nonsense Novels' by Stephen Leacock, [London : John Lane, the Bodley head, 3rd ed.], 231pp + adverts. Endorsed below Monash's signature 'With love from Mat, 27/6/13' and with a tipped-in signed letter from the author (May 1923) at McGill University, Ontario.
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'John Monash July 1914' dated signatures on the title pages of two volumes from the Everyman's library - namely, 'Huxley's Essays' and 'Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress', [London : J.M. Dent & Sons], 2 vols.
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'John Monash July 1914' dated signature to decorated front endpaper of 'A Tale of a tub, the Battle of the books and other Satires' by Jonathan swift, [Melbourne : E.W.Cole] 325pp.
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Gasc's locket French dictionary the 'Smallest French & English Dictionary' contained in a small metal locket with window front, [David Bryce & Sons], vii,648(1) printed pages. Printed on fine India paper. Last printed page covers English coins and measurements. Accompanied by a card with notations in Monash's hand 'French - English dictionary captured from a Turkish Officer Aug 6/7 - 1915'. A personal relic of John Monash's time at Gallipoli.
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Dora Ohlfsen (1877 - 1948), Lt. Gen. Sir John Monash. G.C.M.G., K.G.B., D.C.L., L.L.D. Gallipoli. Messines. Paschendale. Amiens. Hamel. Peronne. Bullicourt. 1914 - 1919, large brass medallion with Monash's profile and text in relief, signed Dora Ohlfsen, London 1919' at base, 27 cm diameter.
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Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, 'The Australian Victories in France in 1918', [London : Hutchinson & Co., 2nd ed.], 352pp + maps, plates; endorsed in pen to front blank endpaper 'To Capt. Gershon Bennett with sincerest regards from John Monash, 18/9/20'. Gershon Bennett (Berendt) would marry Monash's daughter, Bertha, in 1921. 
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'John Monash Jany / 1920' dated signature to blank front endpaper of 'Tanks 1914-1918 the Log-Book of a Pioneer' by Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Albert G. Stern, [London : Hodder and Stoughton, 1919], 1st ed., 298pp + photo plate. A presentation copy with tipped in dedication dated Feb.14, 1921: 'To general Sir John Monash, under whose command the Tanks had their greatest success. This was due to the opportunities given them and the successful cooperation of the infantry with them.....
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Two pieces that have Survived of the dinner service purchased by Monash for use at his home, 'Iona'; a lidded teapot and a lidded sugar jar, both bearing the ornate gilt 'M' monogram that adorned the whole service. The teapot 25 cm high; the sugar jar 16 cm. (2 items).
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Sir Ian Hamilton, 'Gallipoli Diary' in two volumes, [London : Edward Arnold, 1920], 387pp + maps, plates, etc; and, 350pp + adverts., maps, plates, etc. Vol.2 with 'John Monash Nov / 20' dated signature to blank endpaper; Vol.1 with a tipped-in dedication: 'For my friend general Sir John Monash in memory of the hard struggle at the Dardanelles - a struggle which brought out his sterling qualities and set the stamp upon him as a great leader of men, from Ian Hamilton, 23 - 2 - 21.'
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George Bernard Shaw, 'Back to Methuselah. A Metabiological Pentateuch', [London ; Constable & Co., 1921, 1st ed.], 267pp. Signed 'John Monash Nov / 1921' to front blank title page.
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George Bernard Shaw, 'The doctor's Dilemma, Getting Married, & the Shewing-up of Blanco Posnet', [London ; Constable & Co., 1911, 2nd impression.], 408pp. Signed 'John Monash' to front blank title page.
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Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879 - 1962), 'Hunters of the great North', [London : George G. Harrap & Co., 1st ed., 1923], 288pp + plates & maps, signed 'John Monash Nov / 1923' to blank front endpaper. Additionally, with a tipped-in signed letter from the author to Monash, headed Menzie's Hotel, Melbourne, Victoria, June 13, 1924.  'Dear Sir John,.....I hear I am to have the pleasure of meeting you at least once. I look forward to that opportunity and hope there will be more of them.'
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'With loving regards to Bert, Gersh & John, from the author, John Monash. Aug 6 / 23' inscription to blank front end paper of 'The Australian Victories in France in 1918' by Lieutenant-General Sir John Monash, [Melbourne : the Lothian book Publishing Co., 2nd Revised edition, 1923], card covers, 323pp + adverts. Bert[ha], Monash's daughter, Gersh[on], her husband and John, their Son, born in 1922.
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Dated hand-written dedication 'To the vice - Chancellor of the University, Sir John Monash, from Stephen H. Roberts. Aug. 8, 1924' on the blank front end paper of Robert's book 'History of Australian land Settlement (1788 - 1920)', [Melbourne : MacMillan and Co., with Melbourne University press, 1st ed. 1924], 428pp + plates.
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Norman Lindsay (1879 - 1969), 'Pen Drawings', [Sydney : Arthur McQuitty & Co., 1924], folio, quarter vellum, limited edition of 500, this being No.54, signed in pen by Norman Lindsay, and dated 'Nov / 1924' in Monash's characteristic style.  with an introduction by Francis Crossle and twelve plates.
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'John Monash Oct / 26' dated signatures on the title pages of two volumes from the Everyman's library - namely, 'Huxley's Lectures and Lay Sermons' and 'Caesar's Commentaries', [London : J.M. Dent & Sons], 2 vols.
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'John Monash Aug / 26' dated signatures to the blank front end papers of both volumes of 'Plutarch's Lives of Illustrious Men...translated by John and William Landhorne', [London : Chatto and Windus, 1878]; 584pp + 548pp + adverts. (2 vols.). The blank end papers further endorsed 'From Sir H. Allen's Library' in Monash's hand.
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'John Monash Aug / 1926' undated signatures to blank front end papers of both volumes of 'The life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, gentleman & a Sentimental Journey through France and Italy' by Laurence Sterne, [London : Macmillan and Co., 1st ed., 1900], 368pp + adverts., 378pp + adverts. (2 vols.).
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'John Monash Nov / 1926' dated signature to the blank front end paper of 'Old Colonial Architecture in New South Wales and Tasmania' by Hardy Wilson, [Sydney : Union house, 1924], 10, III, [+50 plates], signed by the author; limited edition No.891 of 1000. Patterned card boards and cloth spine, with gilt lettering to both and gilt decoration to boards. In original slipcase.
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'John Monash Oct /27' dated signature to blank front endpaper of 'A complete history of the Lives and Robberies of the most notorious Highwaymen footpads, shoplifts, & cheats of both sexes...' by Captain Alexander Smith, [London : George Routledge & Sons,1926] 607pp + plates.
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'John Monash March / 1927' dated signature to blank front end paper of 'Kaiser Wilhelm II' by Emil Ludwig, [London : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 4th impression 1926], 459pp + plates.
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'John Monash August / 1928' dated signature to blank front end paper of 'Life in the Stars' by Sir Francis Younghusband, [London : John Murray, 2nd ed. 1928], 222pp + plates + adverts. With a tipped-in dedication 'In admiration of the Australian Corps, November 1918. The finest fighting force the world has ever seen.' Francis Younghusband, October 1928. The book is further enhanced by a tipped-in two page letter from the author to Monash....
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Percival (Percy) Israel white (1885 - 1967), portrait of John Monash Bennett, pencil, charcoal, Indian white on card, endorsed 'With P.I. White's compliments 1929', 36 x 26 cm. John Monash Bennett, born 10 May 1922, died March 1929.
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'John Monash July / 29' dated signature on blank front page of  'Callinicus - a Defence of Chemical Warfare' by J.B.S. Haldane, [London : Kegan Paul, trench, Trubner & Co., 1925]. With an additional notation in Monash's hand 'See pages 24/5' '....If one goes to what is, perhaps, the opposite extreme from Russia, one finds the army of the World's most democratic nation, Australia, commanded by a Jew, Monash, and notes with interest that the Germans regarded the Australian troops as....
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'John Monash June 27 / 29' dated signature to blank front endpaper of 'All Quiet on the Western Front' by Erich Maria Remarque (translated by A,W. Wheen) [London : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1929] 320pp., with contemporary newspaper cuttings tipped-in front and rear.
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A Hand-Written letter from Monash to his daughter, Bertha: dated Jan'y 19, 1929 and on 'Iona' letterhead, Monash writes his regrets in not being with 'Bert' on her birthday 'Owning to our respective peregrinations....'; he signs off 'Your affectionate Daddy, John Monash'.
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John Monash Consulting engineer brass sign (15.5 x 53.5 cm) made by C.G. Roeszler & Son., 264 little Collins Street, Melbourne, with their imprint at lower right. The sign was removed from the building in which Monash had his office.
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'John Monash Apl. / 1930' dated signature to blank title page of 'A Greater than Napoleon ; Scipio Africanus' by Captain B.H. Liddell Hart [London : William blackwood & Sons., 1928], 282pp + plates. A two-page hand-written note from Liddell Hart on army & Navy club, Pall Mall letterhead is affixed to the inside front cover. Dated 4.5.'30
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'John Monash March / 1930' dated signature to blank front end paper of 'Eighty-Two illustrations on steel, stone, and wood. By geo. Cruikshank', [London : William Tegg, 1870, first edition thus]
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A Hand-Written letter from Monash to his Daughter, Bertha: dated June (in error) 22, 1930 and on 'Iona' letterhead; Monash writes to wish her happy birthday and he signs off 'With much love, Dad'.
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A Hand-Written letter from Monash to his Daughter, Bertha: dated 29/12/30 and headed 'Iona'; Monash writes to ask for 'Bert's' advice the best way to transport his 'White military helmet, peaked forage cap and two felt hats' as well as additional headwear he 'Shall be getting in Bombay'. Should he 'Buy a roomy ladies' hat box.......and what ought I to pay for such a hat box?'; he signs off 'Yours affectionately, John Monash'.
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A carved blackwood lidded pot, with silver plaque affixed under the lid: 'General Sir John Monash, G.C.M.G., K.C.B. From the Council of the working mens College. 23 - 7 - 31.', 17 cm high, 16 cm wide.
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A poem written on the death of John Monash William a. Tainsh (1880 - 1967), 'The last Parade', a three stanza tribute to Monash, composed by Tainsh, with his name and dated 1931 at lower right, pen and red and black ink on vellum, framed 40 x 32.5 cm overall.
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Roy Cecil Hodgkinson (1911-1993), untitled sketch of Monash reviewing Australian troops marching past his vantage point, pen and Indian ink on paper, signed and endorsed lower right, 'Mrs Gershon Bennett, with compliments, R. Hodgkinson, '34', 36 x 47 cm; framed 38 x 50 cm overall.
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A prayer book (T'filat La'derech) printed by John Monash'S Grandfather in 1868, with presentation inscription to Colin Bennett, Monash'S Grandson, in 1942 a pocket-sized prayer book (Prayers for the Road, being the order of prayers for the whole year), printed in the town of Krotoschin (near Breslau, then in Prussia, now Wroclaw, in Poland), by B.L. Monasch & Co., 1868. With a hand-written dedication on the inside of the front cover 'To Colin Bennett at the day of his Barmitzvah....'
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Original artwork for the $100 John Monash polymer Banknote, 1996 Lyell Lance Dolan (b.1942) Sir John Monash, pencil on card, signed and dated '96 at lower right, 34 x 31 cm; framed 56 x 50.5 cm overall. Dolan's original artwork for the $100 Monash/Melba polymer banknote issued in 1966. It was presented to the Monash family by the reserve bank of Australia on the occasion of the release of the new banknotes.
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Victorian Volunteers Regiment (Fitzroy), 1860 Lancaster Sappers & miners carbine. Lock marked 'Lancaster' with crown, butt plate stamped '344 V.V.' for Victorian Volunteers, and further stamped 'F' for Fitzroy. Note: Lancasters were unique to the Colony of Victoria and were often used by the volunteer regiments, and had a reduced oval bore of .568 calibre. 123.5 cm long. No license required.
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'Ballarat's Representatives for the Transvaal' rare lithographed display with photographic portraits of members of the 3rd Battalion, and K Company mounted rifles, housed in original period framed with gilt slip and glass, 67 x 57 cm overall
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Second New Zealand War Medal, undated 1861 but named to 1279 Pte. T. Finn. 2 Bn. 14th foot. The 14th was based at Queenstown in cork, Ireland when in 1860 the second battalion travelled to Auckland, to fight in the New Zealand wars. Upon arrival, one detachment was sent to Napier and another to Wellington. The regiment was present at the siege of Te Arei, and served thereafter in Taranaki.
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The Egypt medal to an Australian serving in Sudan: silver, with undated reverse; engraved to 1018. Gun: G. Taylor. N.S.W. Arty: with clasp added, to be worn as a badge. Taylor was a member of the New South Wales contingent of volunteers who 'Answered the Empire's call' following the spread of the Anglo-Egyptian war into the Sudan. It was the first foreign engagement for troops from the Australian Colonies.
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The Queen's South Africa medal, with 5 clasps for cape Colony, orange free state, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 and 1902; named to 943 Sdlr: - Serjt: W. Muir. Victorian M.R. Saddler William Muir was a member of the 5th Victorian mounted rifles Contingent.
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