AustLit

Racconti is a collection of short stories by Henry Lawson. The stories have been translated into Italian by Translation Studies students supervised by Franca Cavagnoli.

'A treasury of classic verse and short stories from one of Australia's most important and best loved writers, Henry Lawson. Includes 'The Loaded Dog', 'The Drover's Wife' and 'Up the Country' plus many more.­Henry Lawson is one of Australia's most famous writers. He was born in 1867 in Grenfell in New South Wales and wrote many of his most important works about life in the Australian bush in the late-­1800s.­ Known as the 'Poet of the People', Henry Lawson's writing captured the hardships and everyday lives of ordinary Australians in the time before Federation and after the gold rushes. Lawson's stories and poems are full of the drama and often absurd humour that characterised life in the Australian outback in the early year's of our nation.­This beautiful illustrated collection captures the essence of Henry Lawson's best loved stories and poms, while also introducing readers to some of his lesser known works.' (Publication summary)

'Readers have long embraced the passionate energy of Henry Lawson’s poems. This collection of 177 poems showcases the very best of Lawson - heart-rendering tales of the human condition, rousing poems of social protest, images of comic characters, and classic portraits such as Middleton’s rouseabout, as well as some of Lawson’s lesser-known works, including the poignant verse addressed to his lost love, Hannah Thornburn. Henry Lawson was a man burdened by poverty and deafness and haunted by the specters of alcoholism and madness. Against his tortured life, the spirit, humour and understanding evident in this collection show the breadth of Lawson’s achievement and demonstrate why he has endured as one of Australia’s great poets. Poems listed in chronological order, with title and first line indices.' (Publication summary)

'Fifty-two of Henry Lawson's stories and sketches that he had first published in newspapers and magazines from 1888 onwards were gathered in his collection While the Billy Boils (Angus & Robertson, 1896). Lawson was not responsible for their ordering and he had to give ground on their texts, especially on his idiosyncratic presentation of wordings that helped to breathe life into his characters and situations. The present edition dismantles the fait accompli of 1896 by presenting the individual items in the chronological order of their first publication and with their original newspaper texts. This will allow a new appreciation of Lawson's writing, one that is attentive to his developing powers.

'The edition also facilitates a close study of Lawson's collaboration with the producers of the collection in 1896, in particular with his copy-editor Arthur W. Jose and publisher George Robertson. Facsimile images (available online) of the printer's copy that they prepared for While the Billy Boils supplement the edition's listing of the alterations that each of them made, revealing the textual history of each story or sketch.' (Publisher's blurb)

Facsimile reproduction of a handwritten (and apparently unpublished) poem by Henry Lawson, now partially damaged through wear. Refers to an accident, the intention of which (attempted suicide or drunkenness) is ambiguous.