Acknowledgements

Firstly I must acknowledge the work of Sir John Ferguson, whose monumental Bibliography of Australia lists most of Andrew Bent’s imprints with impressive scholarship and accuracy. Ferguson also  includes interesting accounts of the circumstances surrounding some of them in greater detail than I have been able to provide here. Ian Wilson’s book Collecting Old Tasmanian Books has also been a most useful resource.

The digitised newspapers on Trove have been invaluable in finding announcements of publication, prices charged etc. and identifying some items which have not survived, or which were intended for publication but for some reason fell by the wayside.

I would like to express my sincere thanks to the institutions which have allowed me to examine and photograph this rare, valuable and often fragile material, and to reproduce the images. Their ever helpful staff have also supplied scans, assisted in tracking down elusive items and provided information about those held outside Australia. First and foremost I thank the State Library of New South Wales for access to the rich holdings of the Mitchell Library and Sir William Dixson Collection. Generous assistance has also been given by Libraries Tasmania (special thanks to Ian Morrison and Caroline Homer) and the National Library of Australia, each of which has impressive holdings of Bentiana. Thanks also to State Library of Victoria, British Library, King’s College Library (London), National Archives UK, Bodleian Library, Advocates’ Library (Edinburgh), National Library of Scotland, Harvard Law Library, Sir George Grey Library (Auckland), University of Tasmania Library Special Collections, Tasmanian Parliamentary Library, Hocken Library (University of Otago) and State Records New South Wales. I am very grateful to Ian Wilson for information, advice and encouragement and for providing some images. I also thank Peter Arnold, Malcolm Ward, Ron Solomon and Michael Piggott for assistance. My research colleague Craig Collins has assisted by examining some UK-held items and has been a constant source of both practical and moral support. Last but not least I thank my husband Peter, for being such a willing  and patient listener and sounding-board.