Biographical Note

In the mid-1980s this collection of drawings - originally numbering forty-six - were offered at a New England (USA) auction. Fifteen drawings from the sale were later acquired by the National Library of Australia (these can be seen on their image database: www.nla.gov.au), while Peter Willcox acquired these thirty-one. In a letter to the Mitchell Library dated 29 July 1998, Mr Willcox described his investigations into the provenance of the collection: 'The Connecticut [USA] auction ... took place in 1986, or soon after ... the watercolours came from the estate or family of James Anderson Junior, an American art collector, b. 1854, author of 'The unknown Turner ... '. New York, 1926.
The drawings were initially offered in the Peter Willcox Collection of Important Australian Natural History Paintings and Books, Sotheby's Melbourne, 28 November 2000, but were purchased by the Library prior to the sale.