Our Earth and Creative Effort are
the second releases of Facsimile Etchings from our 'Etchings
in Books'
series. The folio
contains, as well as the two Facsimile Etchings, a brochure with
details of the two books — Creative Effort and Our Earth
in which the original etchings of the same titles, Creative Effort
and
Our Earth, are included and also the essay 'The Craft of Etching'
by Norman Lindsay.
Kenneth Mackenzie's 'Our Earth', a long blank-verse poem, is
simultaneously a celebration of the natural beauty and
bounty of the Earth and
a protest against its corruption by man and machine. The Earth's
seasons — the
seeding of spring, maturing of summer, harvest of autumn and winter
sleep — are at one with Earth's inhabitants. The cycle of life — conception,
gestation, birth and death — are the seasons of man.
The original etching Our Earth (1936, 15.6 x 12.4 cm) was published
in 1937 in an edition of 225, the largest edition illustrated
with an original etching by Norman. The etching evokes an image
of great
beauty and contrasts it with the callous discord of mechanisation
as McKenzie described.
The 1930s was the most productive decade of Mackenzie's career
and began when he submitted some poems to the Endeavour Press,
which
led to his association with Norman. The chief aim of the
Endeavour Press was to publish and promote Australian novels
and poetry.
Norman's friend, P. R. Stephensen convinced Norman to be
the reader for the
new publishing venture and with the support of the Bulletin,
the Endeavour Press was established in 1932. Norman read
manuscripts and encouraged new writers, in the hope that
the Australian
market could support an adventurous publisher. Norman described
his
aims:
'I'm not awarding myself any moral superiority when I say
that when reading for the Endeavour Press, the only objective
I
had in mind
was to find the quality in writing and creative ingenuity
in the works I read, without giving any consideration to
what
might be their
saleable qualities.
The timing of the venture defeated it. The effects of the
Great Depression was especially harsh in Australia and
the market
was small. The Endeavour
Press folded after only two years.
Thanks to Norman, Mackenzie was able to publish Our Earth
as his first book of verse. The year was 1937, the Depression
had officially
ended but too many were still without a job. Norman's
offer to illustrate the poem meant that its publication
could
become viable.
Mackenzie
was grateful and the dedication to Our Earth reads: 'To
Norman Lindsay in sincere friendship and true esteem
and gratitude'.
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