# NSW Bookstall Company

NSW Bookstall Company was a Sydney company which operated a chain of newsagencies throughout New South Wales. It was notable as a publisher of inexpensive paperback books which were written, illustrated, published and printed in Australia, and sold to commuters at bookstalls in railway stations and elsewhere in New South Wales.

## History

The company was founded as the Sydney Bookstall Company by Henry Lloyd (ca.1847 – 24 September 1897) of "Linden Hall", Annandale, New South Wales around 1880 as a newsagent. Its first foray into publishing may have been racebooks (form guides or programmes) for the Hawkesbury Race Club around 1886. Over its lifetime, the NSW Bookstall company published over 350 titles with over 1000 reprints, with total sales of over five million copies.
A. C. Rowlandson (15 June 1865 – 15 June 1922) joined as a tram ticket seller in 1883 and built a strong interest in the business, which he bought from Henry Lloyd's widow. The greatest part of the company's business consisted of retailing local, interstate and overseas periodicals, postcards (Neville Cayley produced a series) and stationery from its eight city shops and fifty-odd railway stall outlets, but was important as one of Australia's most successful book publishers and retailers of locally produced paperback books.
Considerable effort was put into the artwork of the paperbacks, both on their brightly colored covers and the illustrations within. Artists who contributed included J. Muir Auld, Percy Benison, L. H. Booth, Norman Carter, H. W. Cotton, John P. Davis, Ambrose Dyson, Will Dyson, Tom Ferry, A. J. Fischer (often "Fisher"), Harry Garlick, C. H. Hunt, Ben Jordan, Harry Julius, George W. Lambert, Fred Leist, Norman Lindsay, Lionel Lindsay Percy Lindsay, Ruby Lindsay, Vernon Lorimer, David Low, Hugh Maclean, Frank P. Mahony, Claude Marquet, R. H. Moppett, Charles Nuttall, G. C. Pearce, James Postlethwaite, L. L. Roush, James F. Scott, Sydney Ure Smith, D. H. Souter, Percy Spence, Martin Stainforth, Alf Vincent and Harry J. Weston.
The University of Sydney Library has 153 of the original artworks used in the NSW Bookstall Company's publications, including cover artworks and illustrations. The State Library of New South Wales holds the company records from 1909-1938.
On Rowlandson's death, Reg. Wynn (ca.1866 – 17 December 1925) took over as managing director, and W. A. Crew was circulation manager. The company erected a large building at the corner of Market Street and Castlereagh Street. Reg. Wynn was succeeded by Paul Dowling.
With the onset of World War II, imports of comic books was severely restricted, which opened the market, previously swamped by the U.S. and British houses, to anyone who could provide a quality product, and the NSW Bookstall Company was ideally placed to publish and distribute such work. Tony Rafty, Will Donald, Tom Hubble, Noel Cook and Terry Powis were among the more successful artists, and the partnership of Brodie Mack and writer Peter Amos (real name Archie E. Martin) produced some excellent work for the NSW Bookstall Company. By 1949, the opportunity provided by wartime shortages no longer applied, and Australia was once again flooded with excess overseas production. Between 1957 and early 1958 the Company's assets had been sold.

## Titles

This list of titles of the range of NSW Bookstall titles, which is commonly referred as The Bookstall Series, is representative but not exhaustive.
* J. H. M. Abbott: Ensign Calder
          Sally: The Tale of a Currency Lass
          The Sign of the Serpent
* Arthur H. Adams: Double-Bed Dialogues
          The Knight of the Motor Launch
          The New Chum & four other stories
* Malcolm Afford: Owl of Darkness
* F. Agar: Eros! Eros Wins!
* Bob Allen: The Mare with the Silver Hoof
* Gerald R. Baldwin: In Racing Silk
          Lydia's Lovers
* Vera Barker: Equality Road
          When Satan Laughs
* J. A. Barry: The Luck of the Native Born
          South Seas Shipmates
          Steve Brown's Bunyip
* A. Bathgate: Sodger Sandy's Bairn
* Louis Becke: The Adventures of Louis Bleke
          Bully Hayes, Buccaneer
* Randolph Bedford: Aladdin and the Boss Cockie
          Billy Pagan, Mining Engineer
          Silver Star
* George W. Bell: The Little Giants of the East
* Francis E. Birtles (illus. by author): Lonely Lands
* H. K. Bloxham: The Double Abduction
          On the Fringe of the Never Never
* Lancelot Booth: The Devil's Nightcap
          Tools of Satan
* E. J. Brady: Tom Pagdin, Pirate
* Hilda M. Bridges: The Squatters' Daughter
          The Lady of the Cavern
* Roy Bridges: The Barb of an Arrow
          By His Excellency's Command
          By Mountain Tracks
          Cards of Fortune
          The Fenceless Ranges
          Haunts of Fear
          On His Majesty's Service
          Mr. Barrington
          Mystery of the Cliff
          The Stony Heights
* John X. Cameron: The Spell of the Bush
* R. J. Cassidy: Chandler of Corralinga
* Charles Chauvel: Uncivilised
* E. F. Christie: The Calling Voice
* George Cockerill: The Convict Pugilist
* Dale Collins: Stolen or Strayed
* Arthur Crocker: The Dingo Pup
          The Great Turos Mystery
          South Sea Sinners
* Paul Cupid: The Rival Physicians
* George Darrell: The Belle of the Bush
* Aiden de Bruno: The Carson Loan Mystery
* Don Delaney: The Captain of the Gang
          For Turon Gold
          Gentleman Jack
          A Rebel of the Bush
          The White Champion
* Will Donald: Heel Hitler
* Con Drew: The Doings of Dave
          Jinker
          Rogues and Ruses
* Edward Dyson: Benno and Some of the Push
          Fact'ry 'Ands
          The Grey Goose Comedy Co.
          In the Roaring Fifties
          Loves of Lancelot
          The Missing Link
          Spats' Factory
          Tommy the Hawker and Snifter his Boy
* A. R. Falk: Puppets of Chance
          Red Star
* J. D. Fitzgerald: Children of the Sunlight
* Mabel Forrest: A Bachelor's Wife
* The Poems of Adam Lindsay Gordon
* Beatrice Grimshaw: The Coral Queen
          White Savage Simon
          Queen Vaiti
* Kate Harriott: Invalid and Convalescent Cookery
* W. G. Henderson: The Bathers
* Bert James: The Loser Pays
          The Mystery of the Boxing Contest
* A. E. Jobson: The Adventures of Russell Howard
* Cecil Ross Johnston: The Trader
* Robert Kaleski: Australian Barkers and Biters
* A. R. Kent: A Chinese Vengeance
* Norman Lindsay: A Curate in Bohemia
          Norman Lindsay's Book
* Sumner Locke: Brownie Unlimited
          The Dawsons' Uncle George
          Mum Dawson — Boss
          Skeeter Farm
* H. R. McDuffie: Rooks and Crooks
* Claude McKay and Harry Julius Theatrical Caricatures
* John D. Fitzgerald: Greater Sydney and Greater Newcastle
* Jack McLaren: Feathers of Heaven
          Fringe of the Law
          The Oil Seekers
          Fagaloa's Daughter
          Red Mountain
          The Savagery of Margaret Nestor
          The Skipper of The Roaring Meg
          Spear-Eye
          Sunlight, Adventure and Love
          Talifa
* A. Ian Macleod: Hack's Brat
* A. E. Martin: The Romance of Nomenclature, (1943) containing 1,250 Place Names in South Australia, West Australia and the Northern Territory
* Clarence W. Martin: Ubique
* Harold Mercer: Amazon Island
* Edward Meryon: At Hollands' Tank
          One False Step
          Yellow Silver
* William Monckton: Three Years with Thunderbolt
* Jack North: The Black Opal
          Harry Dale's Grand National
          A Son of the Bush
* Ernest O'Ferrall: Bolger and the Boarders
* Ernest Osborne: The Copra Trader
          Creatures of Impulse
          The Plantation Manager
* Harrison Owen: The Mount Marunga Mystery
* Vance Palmer: The Boss of Killara
          The Shantykeeper's Daughter
* Sydney Partrige: Rocky Section
* Sydney Partrige and Cecil Raworth: The Mystery of Wall's Hill
* S. W. Powell: The Closed Lagoon
          A Golden Chance
          The Great Jude Seal
          Hermit Island
          The Maker of Pearls
          A Mantle of Authority
          The Pearls of Cheong Tah
          The Trader of Kameko
          X-Mixture
* Ambrose Pratt: Dan Kelly – Outlaw
          The Golden Kangaroo
          The Outlaws of Weddin Range
          Three Years with Thunderbolt
          Wolaroi's Cup
* Clement Pratt: Caloola
* "Rata" (Thomas Richard Roydhouse): The Coloured Conquest
* Broda Reynolds: Dawn Asper
          The Heart of the Bush
          The Selector Girl
* Charles Rodda: Cerise and Gold
          The Fortunes of Geoffrey Mayne
* Ivan Archer Rosenblum: Marjorie of Blue Lake
          Stella Sothern
* Steele Rudd: Back at Our Selection
          The Book of Dan
          Dad in Politics
          The Dashwoods
          Duncan McClure
          For Life
          Grandpa's Selection
          Kayton's Selection
          Memoirs of Corporal Keeley
          On an Australian Farm
          On Our Selection
          Our New Selection
          The Old Homestead
          The Poor Parson
          Sandy's Selection
          From Selection to City
          Stocking Our Selection
* W. Sabelburg: The Key of the Mystery
* John Sandes: Love and the Aeroplane
* Charles E. Sayers: The Jumping Double
* H. M. Somer: Base Brands
* Edward S. Sorenson: Murty Brown
          Mystery of Murrawang
          The Rheas of Werriwang
          The Squatter's Ward
* Thomas E. Spencer: Bindawalla
          Budgeree Ballads
          The Haunted Shanty
          How McDougall Topped the Score, and other Verses and Sketches;
          The Spring Cleaning
          The Surprising Adventures of Bridget McSweeney
          That Droll Lady
          Why Doherty Died
* A. G. Stephens (ed.) Aboriginalities (from The Bulletin)
          Bill's Idées
          The Bulletin Book of Humorous Verses and Recitations
          The Bulletin Reciter
          Gum Blossoms: A Volume of Australian Verse
* Crystal Stirling: Soldiers Two
* Ralph Stock: The Pyjama Man
          The Recipe for Rubber
* R. S. Tait: Scotty Mac, Shearer
* Taylor: Campaign Cartoons
* Harry Tighe: The Man of Sympathy
* Robert Waldron: The Flying Doctor
          Pearl Shell
* J. M. Walsh: Goldie Law
          Tap Tap Island
* Charles D. Websdale (J. Muir Auld ill.): Seafarers
* Charles White: Ben Hall
          Captain Moonlite
          Gardiner, King of the Road
          John Vane, Bushranger
          The Kelly Gang
          Martin Cash
          Short-lived Bushrangers
* Arthur Wright: The Boss o' Yedden
          The Boy from Bullarah
          The Breed Holds Good
          A Close Call
          A Colt from the Country
          Fettered by Fate
          Gambler's Gold
          A Game of Chance
          A Good Recovery
          The Hate of a Hun
          In the Last Stride
          Keane of Kalgoorlie
          A Rogue's Luck
          A Rough Passage
          The Outlaw's Daughter
          Over the Odds
          Rung In
          A Sport from Hollowlog Flat
          The Squatter's Secret
          Under a Cloud
          When Nuggets Glistened
* Claude P. Wynn: Princess Naldi's Fetish
* (none named): Australian Bungalow and Cottage Home Designs
* (none named): Canberra Cookery Book
* (none named): Guide to the City of Sydney and the Pleasure Resorts of New South Wales
* (none named): The Harbour Guide
* (none named): Panoramic Sydney
* (none named): Sydney from the Air