The Spirit of My Country by Dorothea Mackellar

The Spirit of My Country

Paintings by Samantha Wortelhock and Damien Naughton, 

Caligraphy by Dave Wood

'My Country' by Dorothea Mackellar

Fidado, 1994 [First Edition], ISBN 1875634045, colour illustrations throughout, decorative cut-out front end-paper, colour frontispiece, hardcover with illustrated boards, dust-jacket

Near Fine Condition, minor edge and shelf wear, minor rubbing to edges and corners, no inscriptions, dust-jacket shows a little edge and shelf wear with a little rubbing to edges and corners (see photographs)

Dorothea Mackellar began writing 'My Country' as an impressionable 19-year-old far away from home.  While visiting England with her parents, she felt over-whelmed by the need to express her deep love of Australia.  Writing this poem was her way of doing this and it took her many years as she searched for images which would convey the essence of her country.
Ironically, the poem was first published in a London magazine, The Spectator, in 1908 and only later reprinted in Australia in The Call.  Its publication coincided with a growing sense of national pride, with Dorothea providing the words and images needed for others to express that pride.
In Spirit of My Country, first in the series Australia-from the Heart, Dorothea's poem is enhanced by the naive art of Samantha Wortelhock and Damien Naughton and the calligraphy of Dave Wood.  Rather than reproducing a literal pictorial translation of the words, the paintings represent the contemporary nationalistic sentiments held dear by the artists, with images reflecting a concern for our unique natural environment."