Books and pamphlets
Published by Volkhard Wehner, 1978-2008; a select list
Click on the thumbnail images below to view a larger image and more information.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
The books listed above are currently out of print (other than A Melbourne Doctor – more details for this book are available here).
Books currently in print
Contact the author if you wish to purchase any of these books.
A Year in my Garden 1905; to which is appended
The Story of the ‘Lost Garden of Murrumbeena’ and its Owners
Forthcoming, c. June 2008
c. 315 pages
Cost: c. $30
A Year in my Garden is an Australian gardening classic. First published in 1905, it has occasionally been quoted by gardening writers: its charm and evocative style, besides its old-fashioned gardening knowledge, are quite irresistible.
It is surprising therefore that the book’s author is one of gardening history’s most elusive figures who must rightly be considered one of Edna Walling’s major precursors.
Besides presenting a full reprint of the original edition, the present editor has added to the book a substantial sequel entitled ‘The Story of the Lost Garden of Murrumbeena and its Owners’ as well as some additional illustrations. Beside the history of this lost garden, here is told the almost unknown story of gardening writer, rose and flower show judge and inspired garden designer Margaret Tuckett (‘Mrs Arthur Tuckett’) as well as the story of the garden’s second (and last) owner, the far more well-known physician, keen cyclist and bushwalker, art collector and medical pioneer Dr John Springthorpe.
The book is directed to readers interested in gardens, gardening and Melbourne history.
Arthur Streeton of Longacres; A Life in the Landscape. 2008
c. 350 pages
Cost:
$35
Arthur Streeton’s name and his contribution to Australian art appear to be so well known as not needing to be re-stated. What is less widely known is that as Australian art evolved in the years since his death in 1943 there have been countless attempts to downgrade both Streeton’s genius and his significance as an artist in his later years. As the result a strange dichotomy has developed between his continuing appeal to art lovers and art collectors on the one hand and the views of many art historians and critics on the other.
The basic tenet of this book is to examine this dichotomy and in some ways ‘to set the record straight’ by a careful analysis of the views held by Streeton himself as well as those of his associates and his crits. This is done by setting his life, his art and his various activities in the context of his family, his friends, his home in Toorak, and his beloved retreat Longacres in the Dandenongs.
The book will appeal to the educated general reader interested in art and Melbourne history.
A Melbourne Doctor and his Generation: Leonard Bell Cox, 1894-1976; Neurologist, Orientalist, Art Collector, Gardener
by Volkhard Wehner, with contributions by neurology professor Mervyn J. Eadie and historian Monica Wehner. 2004.
550 pages
Cost: $40
This is a monumental biography of a remarkable Melbourne man—a pioneering neurologist, art collector and researcher, National Gallery chairman and rhododendron specialist.
The authors wrap the life of Leonard Cox around the cultural and social life of Melbourne during the first three quarters of the 20th century. Among the highlights of the book are substantial chapters on Cox’s experiences as an AIF doctor in France during World War I, his career as a physician and self-taught pioneering neurologist from the early 1920s onwards, including a historical summary of medical life in Melbourne and Cox’s work as a senior consultant at the Alfred Hospital and neurology lecturer at the University of Melbourne, his activities as a collector of oriental art and assumption of a leading role as the National Gallery of Victoria’s honorary curator of oriental art and later as chairman of trustees of the NGV during the time the National Gallery was built in St Kilda Road, Melbourne. And during his years of retirement Cox continued to play a leading public role by participating in rhododendron culture and research at the National Rhododendron Gardens at Olinda.
Well received, the book has been reviewed or mentioned in journals as divers as the Journal of Clinical Neuroscience; the Royal Historical Society of Victoria’s History News; the journal Health and History; the journal Qi (annual publication of the Australian Chinese Medical Association); the journal Gallery, issued by the National Gallery of Victoria, the National Trust of Victoria’s Trust News, as well as several other publications.
Not a specialist, technical or medical book, it is aimed at the general reader with an interest in the history of medical, cultural and social life in Melbourne in the 20th century.
Download the index of the book here
The index is in PDF format and requires the Adobe Acrobat Reader, which can be obtained for free from the Adobe website.
