Deaf History Australia

When John Carmichael advertised that he had created a series of engravings of Sydney and its surrounding scenery in December 1828 (3 years after his arrival to Sydney), this collection of a booklet with 6 images were sold publicly from  March 1829 and was all sold by end of May 1829.

There were some comments about this booklet called “Select Views of Sydney, New South Wales”, including the images – shown below – from various newspapers between December 1828 and May 1829:

• “The Australian” on 25 December 1828 (page 3) commented that:

“THE FINE ARTS.-

Mr. John Carmichael is fast completing his series of engravings of Sydney and its surrounding scenery. Two of the views we have seen – they have taken Mr. Carmichael two months’ assiduous labor, and certainly do him infinite credit. In one view the observer is supposed to be stationed on Hyde Park, looking north-easterly. It takes in the unfinished Roman Catholic Chapel, with the range of streets lying north-westerly; the other from near the Commissariat Stores, looking up George-street. It is proposed to complete the whole in six views, to be published with a prospectus, at 15s. sterling. This is far too low to numerate the skill and time of the engraver, whom it will take months ere he can complete a work, which, in this country, was never yet equaled, and in few places promises to be excelled. Ingenuity and skill, such as are displayed in this undertaking are certainly well worthy of cultivation, and we would confidently solicit the warm support of the public in behalf of the engraver, who has a further claim upon the patronage of the liberal minded, in his being dumb, and we believe, deaf. Should Mr. Carmichael complete his stupendous work, it will be a credit to the Colony. The two views we have seen deservedly rank him with the best second rate landscape engraver of the day.”

• “Sydney Gazette & New South Wales Advertiser” on 28 March 1829 (page 3) annnounced that:

“SELECT VIEWS OF SYDNEY.-

IN the hands of the Artist, and speedily will be published, price 4 Dollars, stitched in a handsome cover, six select Views of Sydney and its environs, dedicated by special permission to Sir JOHN JAMISON, President; and to the other Members of the Agricultural and Horticultural Society of New South Wales.
The Engravings will not only be finished in the most superb style, so as to render them worthy of a place in the portfolio of the connoisseur, as superior specimens of the Art; but they will also be calculated to exhibit to those at a distance, a true picture of this interesting Town, of this our Australian Metropolis, and accompanied too with such letter press illustrations as may be necessary.
As the plates of all fine engravings, only print a limited number of impressions, and these of course, the most perfect at the first; it is therefore respectfully suggested to those who may he desirous of obtaining copies, to insert their names and addresses into the subscription list, as early as possible, so that they may be supplied in the succession of their applications.
Subscription Lists, now lay open at the Bank of Australia; the Bank of New South Wales; the Sydney Gazette Office; the Australian Newspaper Office; the Monitor Office; Cummings’ Hotel; the Royal Hotel; the Australian Hotel; Hill’s Rose and Crown Tavern; and, at Mr. M’Naughton and Rowell’s, King-street, the lodgings of J. Carmichael, the engraver and proprietor.”

Images of “The Select Views of Sydney, New South Wales”:

Cover page (http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/works/42550/)

Other images in this booklet:

Sydney from Hyde Park (http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an6065581)

Sydney from the Domain near Government House (http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an6065577)

Sydney from the Parramatta Road (http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an6065583)

Sydney from Woolloomooloo (http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an6065579)

Sydney Cove between Fort Phillip and Dawes Battery (http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an6065573)

George Street from the Wharf (http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an2307824)

Quite impressive, huh?

He did quite a lot, especially for some publications – which is too numerous to mention here. However there is one notable publication that should get a mention here, “Picture of Sydney: and Strangers’ Guide in N.S.W. for 1839” by James Maclehose:

In this publication, John Carmichael did 20 engraved images, covering buildings, people, landscapes and maps. Only several selected ones shown below:

Male and female black natives, New South Wales (http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an10149504)

Sydney Cove from the stream (http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an10132578)

New Court House, South Head Road, Sydney (http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/works/34154/images/1694/)

There would be more – you’d find some through State Library of NSW or National Library of Australia.

Between 1825 and 1857, John Carmichael had worked non-stop in producing engravings, drawings, paintings and printings, as well as lithographs. To know certain number of his works cannot be achieved, however there is at least 13 known advertisement works John have done. Some are being shown below:

http://www.printsandprintmaking.gov.au/artists/4748/

All images shown below can be found from State Library of NSW

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And one of the three first Australian stamps in 1850:

And apparently he did several more stamps (1851, 1854, 1856 and 1860 (the 1860 stamps were re-produced from 1856 stamps)

The jury is still out there whether the whole stamp collection shown above are all works done by John Carmichael…

According to http://stampsonstamps.brinkster.net/Australia/Australia.htm:

New South Wales was the first part of Australia to be settled by Europeans, and the first to operate a postal service, which in 1803 was carrying letters between Sydney and Parramatta for a 2d charge. In 1809 a collecting office in Sydneywas established to receive mail from passing ships, and in 1825 the postal service was expanded. Mail coach service began in 1830, and in 1835 a new Postage Act superseded the 1825 statute and set rates based on weight and distance travelled.

The postmaster of the time, James Raymond, was in communication with Rowland Hill in England and worked to encourage the prepayment of letters in NSW. In 1838, Raymond introduced envelopes embossed with the seal of the colony, and available for local mail for 1¼ pence each instead of the 2d charged letters paid for in cash. They are thus regarded as precursors of the Penny Black. However, the envelopes were not popular, and in 1841 Raymond was unable to develop official interest in postage stamps for the colony.

In 1842 regular mail service was carried by steamer between Melbourne and Sydney, and the first mail packet from Britain arrived in 1844. An act of 1848 reformed the postal system and authorized the use of stamps; the first stamps appeared on 1 January 1850. They were locally produced, and depicted a scene of Sydney and its harbour, thus becoming known as the “Sydney Views”. The 1d, 2d, and 3d stamps were separately engraved, and then re-engraved and retouched over the next year, yielding dozens of varieties.

In 1851 the colony switched to a more conventional design, a profile of Queen Victoria wearing a laurel wreath, first in a somewhat crude rendition, then a better one in 1853. The colony also took the unusual step of using paper watermarked with the denomination, a practice that resulted in a number of mismatches between watermark and printed denomination that are rare and highly prized today.

To view more stamps, see https://www.prestigephilately.com/auction168/haden_168.pdf and find some stamps in good conditions. And another site http://kennedystamps.com has a better list of stamps. It is quite hard to find better quality images of stamps John Carmichael did on the Internet, unfortunately.

From The Australian States Stamp Album (by Seven Seas Stamps Pty Ltd – no year shown, but is pre-1990s), it stated that John Carmichael did:

• 1850 {commonly known as the “Sydney Views” – first stamp issues of an Australian colony. The design, based on the Great Seal of New South Wales, represents industry receiving convicts at Sydney Cove} – 2d stamp (blue coloured);
• 1851 {The design features the laurel – wreathed head of the Queen and these are known to philatelists as “Laureates”} – 1d (red/blue, and orange), 2d (blue), 3d (green/blue, and green), and 6d (brown);
• 1856 {Issued for use on registered letters, these stamps did not bear a denomination. The registration fee at the time was sixpence (6d)} – 6d (red/blue, and orange/blue)

Just thought I’d let you know that the other page “Timeline” above now has contents. I will be adding as many as I can over the time. It now starts from 1788 and hopefully stops at 1950.

Feel free to throw any other information you think should be included. Also happy to correct any mistakes.

Cheers!