Dad and Dave
| Author | Steele Rudd |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Short story collection |
| Publisher | Bulletin, Sydney |
|
Publication date
|
1899 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 232pp |
| Preceded by | – |
| Followed by | Our New Selection |
On Our Selection (1899) is a series of stories written by Australian author Steele Rudd, the pseudonym of Arthur Hoey Davis, in the late 1890s, featuring the characters Dad and Dave Rudd.
The original edition of the book was illustrated by the Australian artists A. J. Fischer, Albert Henry Fullwood, G. W. Lambert, Fred Leist, Frank P. Mahony and Alf Vincent.
Towards the end of 1895 Davis sent to The Bulletin a sketch Starting The Selection based on his father's experience. The sketch was published on 14 December 1895. Encouraged by J. F. Archibald, the editor and publisher of The Bulletin, Davis continued writing the series of sketches. The stories were originally written about different families but accepting a suggestion by A. G. Stephens, a writer at The Bulletin, the work was reconstructed as the experiences of the Rudd family.
In Australian history, a selection was a "free selection before survey" of crown land under legislation introduced in the 1860s, similar to the United States Homestead Act. Selectors often came into conflict with squatters, who already occupied the land and often managed to circumvent the law.
The Bulletin published the illustrated collection comprising 26 stories in 1899 as On Our Selection. Within four years 20,000 copies had been printed. It afterwards appeared in numerous cheap editions and by 1940 the number of copies sold had reached 250,000.
A reviewer in The Queenslander, after pointing out that the author was a Queenslander and that the stories were set in Queensland, was very impressed with the work: " It is a volume whose recommendation rests solely on its own excellence, and that excellence is more than sufficiently great to guarantee a hearty welcome and a keen appreciation of "Steele Rudd's" talent...No review of the book would be complete without a reference to the excellent illustrations which enliven its pages. Men in the front rank of Australian artists, like Vincent, Fischer, Lambert, Mahoney, Fullwood, and Leist, have lent their beat energies to catching the author's method, his moods and his types. Usually illustration hinder rather than help the text, but in this case the reverse is the order, and it is doubtful whether anybody could fully understand the personality of Dad, Mother, and the others without Vincent's delightful pen-and-ink sketches."
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Wikipedia