Souvenir booklet - '36 Views Illustrative of the American Fleet's visit to Australia, 1908'

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N.S.W. Bookstall Co.

c. 1908

Overview

Souvenir booklet entitled '36 Views Illustrative of the American Fleet's visit to Australia, 1908'. It has cream coloured covers with red, white and blue text.
A logo of two crossed flags (Australian Blue Ensign and the American Star Spangled banner) with a shield featuring the British Union Jack between them appears in the top left hand corner. The word 'Souvenir' is printed in upper case letters on the diagonal in the centre of the cover. The base of the letters are blue, the top white and a shadow detail is in red. In the lower right, the title of the booklet is written in red upper case letters.
The booklet is bound with a bow made from blue ribbon. The cover of the booklet is in poor condition. A piece is missing from the top and there are grubby marks.
The card cover extends beyond the internal leaves, which has protected them from damage.
The contents of the booklet give details about the 'American Armada' and describe the 16 battleships, along with greyscale photographs of each at sea. There are also some taken on board the ships, and several of President Roosevelt and his wife and prominent American officers. These images have been taken by Underwood & Underwood of New York and form the basis of the Stereograph collection also in the collection. Additional photographs include Australian landmarks such as Admiralty House and Government House in Sydney, and Commonwealth drill ships.
The back cover of the booklet has a smaller version of the logo with the flags in the centre.

Historical information

The Great White Fleet was the name given to the group of United States Navy battleships that completed a journey around the globe from December 16, 1907, to February 22, 1909, by order of President Theodore Roosevelt.
It comprised 16 white-painted battleships divided into two squadrons, along with various small escorts.
The fleet visited three ports in Australia - Sydney, Melbourne and Albany - before departing on the next leg of their journey to Manila.
This souvenir booklet was produced by N.S.W. Bookstall Co., Sydney and incorporated photos published by Underwood & Underwood (New York), Exchange Studios (Sydney) and Hall & Co. (Sydney).

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-119-RoW00529

Item type

Themes

Defence > Navy
Social History
Transport

Material

Card