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A collection of documents and items relating to James Sprent,…
Sale Title:
Auction House:
Auction Location:
Hobart
Date:
15-Apr-2012
Lot No.
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Description:
A collection of documents and items relating to James Sprent, surveyor of Hobart town in 1841, comprising a sealed parchment manuscript (Sprent's degree certificate), a University of Glasgow cruise boarding pass dated 1822, another dated 1823, and another dated 1822/23, a Reeves ruler and a zinc document case. Provenance: James Sprent was the Son of a Scottish publisher, and he arrived in the colony of van Diemen's land in May 1830 aboard the sailing ship Norval, bringing with him 'Large Investment in Books, Engravings and Stationery' during a time of increasing disputes between land holders mainly due to the piecemeal way in which land had been measured. He was appointed surveyor general of Tasmania in 1857 after laboring under two predecessors of somewhat dubious ability. Noone could have foretold that 170 years on Sprent's work would still be in use and published in digital format. As recently as 2009, James Sprent's historic plans were used in the coroner's enquiry into Hobart's Myer store buyer. NB2. See Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol.2, pp.466-7 for an entry on Sprent
Estimate:
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Price:
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Category:
Printed & Written Material: Historical Documents