Author: Lambert, Elisabeth.

Publisher: Sydney: The Viking Press.

Format: Three octavo booklets, 20.4 x 12.7cm to 21.5 x 15.7cm.

1). Insurgence. Poems by Elisabeth Lambert. Decorations by Bessie J. Mitchell, 1930. Printed by S.T. Ross & Hays, Sydney. Strawboard covers with pasted on card title, string bound, inscribed “For Ken Slessor, from Elisabeth Lambert” in ink on flyleaf, unpaginated [26pp] with 8 vignettes by Mitchell.

2). The Map by Elisabeth Lambert. Decorations by Bessie Mitchell, 1940. Printed by Waite & Bull, Sydney. Softcover octavo, plain cream wrappers, 6pp. One of only 250 copies.

3). Elisabeth Lambert Poems, 1943. Printed by Boylan & Co. Softcover octavo in cream wrappers with brown letterpress, inscribed “To Jan, wishing you all the best for Xmas + the New Year, Bessie” in ink on flyleaf, 39pp. One of only 220 copies.

Bessie Mitchell, also known as Bessie Jean Guthrie (Australian, 1905–1977), was a designer, publisher, and feminist. “She was the first woman to hold a solo design exhibition at the East Sydney Technical College. In 1939 she set up Viking Press, publishing anti-war material and poetry mainly by women.” She counted Rosaleen Norton amongst her friends. Ref: DAAO.

Elisabeth Lambert (British, 1915–2003) also known as Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz, was a poet and writer who briefly lived in Australia before becoming a regarded food writer in the US. These are the three books of poetry she published in Australia with Viking Press. They are artefacts of pivotal moments in Australian poetry and publishing.

Dark offset to inside of boards and next pages, rust marks, light foxing overall.