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Columbine
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Title |
Columbine |
Size |
21.8 x 21.5 cm |
Date Published |
2005 |
Reference |
Norman Lindsay Etchings: Catalogue
Raisonné (Odana
Editions and Josef Lebovic Gallery, 1999, cat.58) |
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Columbine and Your Fate were released
in a special celebratory Odana Editions' 30th Birthday folio and
are not sold
separately. The folio contains, as well as the two Facsimile Etchings,
a brochure with details of the two books — Colombine and The
Etchings of Norman Lindsay in which the original etchings of Columbine
and Your Fate are included and also the essay 'The Craft of Etching'
by Norman Lindsay. The poetry of Hugh Raymond McCrae (1876–1958), although written
sporadically, was influential in the development of Australian literature
from the bush ballad to more sophisticated verse. Norman was eighteen
when he first met McCrae and they remained firm friends for all their
lives. Norman’s enthusiasm for McCrae’s poetry never
wavered and he always remained convinced that it was McCrae who had
ushered in the renaissance of Australian poetry. In 1953 McCrae was
awarded the OBE for services to Australian literature.
It was a chance meeting in George Street, Sydney, that brought about
the publication of Colombine. Norman was enchanted with McCrae’s
verses and thought them some of the most delicate and beautiful written
in Australia. He took the verses immediately to George Robertson
of Angus & Robertson. Norman viewed McCrae as a genuine poet,
with a rare mind. Colombine was McCrae’s second volume of poetry.
His first was Satyrs and Sunlight: Silvarum Libri, first published
in 1909, with illustrations by Norman, with a second edition in 1911.
A further edition, with the simple title Satyrs and Sunlight, was
published by The Fanfrolico Press, London in 1928. That edition contains
all Norman’s illustrations to Satyrs and Sunlight, Colombine
and Idyllia. The original manuscript of Colombine is in the Mitchell
Library. It is dedicated in McCrae’s hand: To Norman Lindsay,
Friend of my bosom, thou more than a brother. The original etching Columbine (1918, 21.8 x 21.5 cm) was published
in 1920 in the low-edition Colombine, a book of poems by Hugh McCrae.
His poem ‘Colombine’ is a small lyrical masterpiece which
ends with an echo of a mysterious melody of McCrae’s imaginary
cello, a melody captured in no small measure by the ethereal quality
of Norman’s etching.
In a letter to George Robertson about the etchings and the plate,
Rose wrote: I will send you the destroyed plate to show buyers if
you wish as they always like to know that a plate is destroyed. We
are very careful never to print an etching over the number, to destroy
plates ... I am boss of the etching department here and take great
care that all etchings are strictly numbered and bad prints destroyed. There
was some question as to whether the title of the book was to be Columbine
or Colombine? It was originally spelt Columbine but
Robertson disagreed. He eventually wrote to Christopher Brennan at
the University of Sydney asking for his opinion. Brennan replied:
Columbine, I suppose, is English, like Columbus, etc — but
my own preference is for Colombine with o. After all, as far as art
and poetry are concerned, she’s exotic: no more to be Anglicized
than Pierrot (imagine him as Peterkin). The ‘o’ spelling was finally adopted even though the
etching had previously been titled Columbine by Norman. |
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