Ralph Rashleigh or The Life of an Exile

Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1952. Octavo, liv, 331 pages plus 10 plates and endpaper maps. Cloth slightly flecked and marked; spine lightly sunned; top edge foxed; a few mild signs of handling; a very good copy. One of 1,000 copies. James Tucker (1808-1888?) ''a convict, an architect by profession . who had been transported for forgery' . However, it had also been claimed that Tucker was merely a copyist of works originally composed by another and that the level of education required of the author of Ralph Rashleigh is not to be found in other examples of Tucker's hand, such as the blackmailing letter of 1826 and official Port Macquarie papers of 1846. Until further evidence is produced, the question of authorship is likely to remain in dispute' ('Australian Dictionary of Biography').