Australian Woolsheds by Harry Sowden

Australian Woolsheds

Edited and photographed by Harry Sowden

Cassell Australia, 1980, ISBN 0726978558, black and white photographs throughout, large paperback

Very Good Condition, a little edge and shelf wear, a little rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, previous owners’ inscription title page, and inscription and details on front endpaper, minor crumpling and staining to bottom centre of introductory pages and bottom corner at spine of front cover, foxing to foredges (see photographs)

“If Australia can boast of a vernacular architecture, it must surely be in its woolsheds, for these buildings have been shaped by Australian history.  They grew as a reflection of the life of the pioneer and of the wealthy grazier, a chequered development which fluctuated with the economy.
Harry Sowden’s handsome survey covers this unique era in Australian architecture before its page of history is closed for ever.  In a hard country with little time for sentiment the large woolsheds of yesterday, that resounded with the activity of up to two hundred men at shearing time, now fall into disrepair.
Many others have been destroyed by fire or the passing years.  Even so, there are still so many woolsheds, scattered over thousands of square miles, that it would take a life-time to catalogue them all; therefore those illustrated have been chosen by the photographer-author to display their variety an character.”