Explorations – No 52 Jun 2012

IVAN BARKO, Foreword

NICOLE STARBUCK, The Colonial Field – Science, Sydney and the Baudin Expedition (1802)

A scholarly examination of the scientific achievements of the Baudin expedition during its long stay in Port Jackson in 1802.

Keywords: scientific research, natural history specimens and observations, Port Jackson, François Péron, Nicholas Baudin, Leschenault, a colonial field

COLIN NETTELBECK, Twentieth Century French Literature in Australian Universities – Teaching and Research

An examination of the changes that have occurred in modern languages departments in universities and the resulting decline in the study of contemporary French literature.

Keywords: French Studies, twentieth century French literature, Australian Research Council, post-literary era, linguistic proficiency cf literary culture, academic journals, PhD research topics

RICHARD GUNTER, Studying French at the University of Melbourne (1945–1948)

Reminiscences of a former student of the French Department ta the University of Melbourne between 1945 and 1948.

Keywords: A.R. Chisholm, the French Club, Alliance Française, plays and play readings

EDWARD DUYKER, Une Tasmanie Française
The text of a talk on the French explorers in Tasmania and light-hearted speculation on what might have happened had the French settled in Tasmania.

Keywords: Marion Dufresne, Van Diemen’s Land, D’Entrecasteaux Channel, Dumont d’Urville, Nicholas Baudin, Governor King

BRIAN NELSON, The Australian Journal of French Studies: Looking Forward

A note about the agreement between The Australian Journal of French Studies and the University of Liverpool.

Keywords: The Australian Journal of French Studies, Monash University, University of Liverpool, internationalisation, technological progress

ELAINE LEWIS, The Valéry Collection for the State Library of Victoria

A note about the acquisition of a collection of books previously owned by the poet and thinker Paul Valéry and purchased by the Library from the estate of the late Judith Robinson-Valéry, the Australian widow of Valéry’s son Claude.

Keywords: State Library of Victoria, Paul Valéry, Judith Robinson-Valéry

Book Reviews and Note

Georges-Goulven Le Cam, L’Australie au-delà du rêve, reviewed by Stephen Alomes

Ian Coller, Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798–1831, reviewed by Stephen Alomes

Richard Travers, The Tennis Courts of Lyon: Les Jeux de Paume de Lyon, note by Elaine Lewis

ELAINE LEWIS, French-Australian Bibliographical Notes

Explorations – No 16 Jun 1994

(issued September 1997)

WALLACE KIRSOP, Foreword

WALLACE KIRSOP, Dennis Davison

A reflection on the contribution of Dennis Davison to Australian cultural life, as a writer, an academic, mentor and participant. He was an Associate Editor of Explorations.

EDWARD DUYKER, With a French Accent in the National Library

An introduction to the holdings of French material in the National Library, inspired by the author’s search for material relating to the French officer Marc-Joseph Marion Dufresne. The article provides details of Dufresne’s maritime exploits, together with those of later French explorers, referring to relevant documents held in the Library.

Keywords: Marion Dufresne, French exploration of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, National Library of Australia.

WALLACE KIRSOP, Sir William à Beckett in France

William à Beckett was Victoria’s first Chief Justice. This article discusses his account of his 1853-54 grand tour of Europe in Out of Harness, published in 1854 by J.J. Guillaume in London. The article contains a long excerpt (pp. 92-96 of the book) narrating the French leg of his journey.

Keywords: travel in France in the 1850s, Paris, shops and boulevards.

EDWARD DUYKER, Mauritius and Family History at the National Library

Another overview of the collections in the National Library, this time relating to Mauritius, including genealogical and family history sources as well as other material of a more general interest.

Keywords: Mauritius, National Library of Australia, colonial history of the Indian Ocean.

The House in Robe Street: Addenda

Brief addenda to the article that appeared in Issue No 15

BOOK REVIEWS

Alexander Massov and Lena Govor, Rossiiskie moryaki i puteshestvenniki v Avstralii [Russian Sailors and Travellers in Australia], reviewed by Edward Duyker

R. E. R. Banks, B. Elliott, J. G. Hawkes, et al., Sir Joseph Banks: A Global Perspective, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Muséum d’histoire naturelle du Havre, Les Velins de Charles-Alexandre Lesueur, Exposition du 4 mai au 2 juin 1996 a l’Espace Claude Monet, reviewed by Edward Duyker

Colin Forster, France and Botany Bay: The Lure of a Penal Colony, reviewed by Edward Duyker